Going HD with Sony - but with lots of Panasonic miniDV tapes to cap

[japniz]

My Panasonic NV DS5EN has just given up the ghost after four years (46 tapes') of service.

I've got a second hand Sony HDR HC1E as a replacment. I'd have liked to keep the brand the same so I could cap my tapes with the new cam but the Sony came well recommended and at a good price. (I don't' want to mix tape types in the same cam.)

Consequently, two questions:
- how best to cap the 43 Panasonic tapes as yet uncaptured. Could I just buy the cheapest new Pan. minDV cam around and use that? Or - being cheap - would it mean that there would be some loss of quality on playing back the tapes for the Firewire capture? (I imagine the quality of the tape heads, like lenses, varies with price?)

- I use Prem. Elements 3 for editing (TMPEnc v5 for authoring and burning) and that accepts HD. However, can HD go on a regular DVD or do I have to wait for BluRay burners to come down in price? The Sony, though, does apparently output standard DV from a HD capture, but that rather defeats the object of going HD.

Any advice would be welcome as a troll through this sub forum has not helped with these particualar challenges, although - as always - I end up reading loads of interesting posts.

[JohnnyMalaria]

Firstly, you are wise to not use the HC1E for capping your SD back catalogue (I have the NTSC version - wonderful camcorder!)

You can get *any* cheap miniDV camcorder to do the job. As long as the heads are in good nick, you won't have any issues re. quality UNLESS you originally recorded in LP mode in which case you *may* have problems.

A rummage on eBay may be called for. Cheap used miniDV cams pop up all the time. As long as the playback function works and the FireWire hasn't been frazzled....

You can burn HD onto DVD and have an HD-DVD player believe it is a true HD disc. I can't remember the details, though.

[japniz]

Thanks, Johnny. I was hoping that would be the case as have seen second hand and first hand (low spec) models on Ebay for around £80. That doubt on the quality of 'playback' had me, though.

Yes, from a bit more reading, it looks like going HD is going to prove quite pricey as my old Panasonic TV is not up to the job - so looks like a new TV is needed at some point soon to be able to enjoy the supposedly huge jump in quality from standard to HD. On your NTSC model, have you burned HD discs or have you output at standard quality?

(I see the cheapest Blu Ray writers, now HD TV has bit the dust, are around £160-£170, but then I can remember my first DVD writer x1.4 was over £100 second hand in 2004! Now fast burners are around for £25-£30 - so hopefully prices will be dropping fast - as, of course, the prices of the settop players themselves as I'm assuming, to do it properly, I'd really need to put edited HD film on that format.)

[JohnnyMalaria]

TOn your NTSC model, have you burned HD discs or have you output at standard quality?

No, I haven't. I'm in the same boat right now - using a standard def TV. So, I use my laptop or desktop for viewing the HD. I'm still deliberating on which TV to get and when. Of course, I'll need to fork out for a HD player, too. Shouldn't be a problem given the sudden drop in price for HD-DVD players.

When I do watch the down-converted material on my current TV, the picture is astounding - especially the colour. It is on a par with my PDX-10 3CCD miniDV camcorder.

[japniz]

'Down converted' meaning the HD recording output as standard DV for editing?

[JohnnyMalaria]

Yes.

[edDV]

I play my HDV files direct from main computer (or my laptop over analog component YPbPr) to the HDTV. It is also possible to play the files directly from the camcorder over HDMI or analog component YPbPr.

Someday I'll get a Blu-Ray writer and standalone player but that doesn't stop me from using my HDV camcorder now.

[japniz]

When viewing, Johnny, is it through an A/V hookup to the TV directly or is it a DVD you've made based on DV standard captures from HD footage? (If the latter, what did you edit and burn with, out of interest?)

Again, the second situation is what I imagine myself doing, as long as the quality is at least as good as regular DV, and hanging on to the original tapes until such time in the future as I have an HD TV, player and burner - which could be several years, at least. (That said, I'm no hurry as I've still got 3.5yrs worth of those Panosonic tapes to capture, edit , burn to DVD and then archive before starting on anything filmed with the new HD cam.)

[JohnnyMalaria]

As with everything I do, it's a little different

Effectively, it's an A/V hookup to the TV but because all my DV is widescreen, I need to letterbox it for viewing on a standard 4:3 TV. I use our software to do that - it letterboxes DV on-the-fly for that very purpose. In fact, it's the whole reason the software came about! I had a lot of underwater widescreen footage and I wanted to be able to view any widescreen DV at any time without rendering it first. Unlike in Europe, widescreen TVs have been a l-o-n-g time coming in North America. Standard def 16:9 TVs are virtually unheard of (except for the ugly-as-sin rear projection units).

So, I have a laptop with FireWire. Sometimes the videos are already captured and I play them back to the camcorder through our software. Other times when I just want to watch the tape, I connect it to the laptop as well as a second camcorder and basically use the laptop as a standalone aspect ratio converter.

If I'm in a real hurry, I just connect the camcorder directly to the TV.

I haven't done much in the way of burning to DVD though. Mainly because I'm too busy writing software!

[japniz]

On a replacment cam, I had thought, since the old cam was Panasonic as are the tapes, that a Panasonic cam would be the best bet. Is that the case or will any 'new' cam be okay to play back the tapes on?

(I'm assuming playback/capture quality will not suffer since the tapes are, of course, recorded and would be just 'viewed' by the camera not recorded through the capturing process.)

Cheapest mini DV at the moment is a Canon MD101 at £99, with the Panasonic GS60 coming in at £125.

[edDV]

On a replacment cam, I had thought, since the old cam was Panasonic as are the tapes, that a Panasonic cam would be the best bet. Is that the case or will any 'new' cam be okay to play back the tapes on?

(I'm assuming playback/capture quality will not suffer since the tapes are, of course, recorded and would be just 'viewed' by the camera not recorded through the capturing process.)

Cheapest mini DV at the moment is a Canon MD101 at £99, with the Panasonic GS60 coming in at £125.

The Sony HC1E will play MiniDV tapes made on a Panasonic MiniDV camcorder. I play MiniDV tapes from many sources on Sony or Canon HDV camcorders.

The only area of controversy is whether old tapes will gum up the new camcorder with dirt and/or dry lubrcants. Some people are purists. I just play all the tapes and use a cleaning tape every few months. I've had no problems so far.

[2Bdecided]

I'm no purist, but I have the carnage that comes from mixing tape types embedded in the recordings from my old camcorder. I didn't switch brands very often - maybe only three or fours times in 80 tapes. However, the first tape after I changed brands has problems, whereas after the record deck became "used" to the new brand, the later tapes are OK.

Of course, when discussing brands, the important thing is which brands, and when. There is certainly a difference between Panasonic (1998) and Sony (1998), and between Maxell (2006) and Sony (2006).

Cheers,
David.

[japniz]

Yes, I'm for keeping things simple, even though it means a bit of extra outlay. I've now bought the MD101 and will keep that just for Panasonic tapes while the Sony will be used just with Sony cassettes.