Is it possible to back up memory cards to miniDV?

[sdsumike619]

If I have a 64GB SD card with video data on it, does anyone know if there's a way to back up/transfer that data to miniDV tapes? The fatal flaw in switching to memory card recording is price. It was easy to buy a bunch of minidv tapes in bulk cheaply. Can't exactly do the same with memory cards. I don't like the idea of not having the data on something other than a hard drive (because they fail) Stuff I filmed on miniDV from 2004 still plays perfectly.

[Vidd]

If and only if the video on the SD card is DV format you can transfer via firewire to your mini dv camcorder. But more than likely it will not be possible since the video will be some modern file type like h.264, mp4, or AVCHD.

Memory cards and flash drives have really dropped in price. A 64GB SD card or flash drive can be found for $30-$40 on Amazon. That would be a much better backup than DV tape. What if your DV camcoder breaks? It would be difficult to find the same model camcorder to play back your tapes.

DVD+R and BD-R discs are also cheap backup solutions.

[smrpix]

If the video material on the cards is actually DV, (which is possible, but unlikely) it's easy enough to capture to a computer and play back to mini DV.

There are also data tape backup options, but none has a dominant foothold in the consumer market, so there could be issues about retrieving your material in the future.

I would reexamine some of your assumptions. MiniDV is a pretty fragile physical format, temperature, wear and tear and tape dropouts can cause failures.

My recommendation if you're concerned about hard drive failure is to copy the material to a second (and/or third) hard drive.

[sdsumike619]

Yes I agree that the memory card is a more durable storage medium, but it sucks having to buy a new memory card for that much $$ for new projects.. It is AVCHD footage. I checked B&H and see that there are Sony camcorders that are available that record to miniDV for about the same price as I paid for my XA10 a year ago. Are they any good? such as: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/459129-REG/Sony_HDRFX7_HDR_FX7_3CMOS_HDV_1080i.html

[aedipuss]

not really a good backup solution. HDV is fine but it's 1440x1080i mpeg-2. the quality hit would be pretty bad especially if someday you wanted to use the backup and have to convert back to mpeg-4.

[2Bdecided]

Memory cards and flash drives have really dropped in price. A 64GB SD card or flash drive can be found for $30-$40 on Amazon. That would be a much better backup than DV tape.

Flash memory self destructs in use and in storage. It's really not designed as an archive format. DV tape won't have this problem, though in a decade or so it'll be harder to find a working machine. I'd trust DV longer than HDV - at least to be able to get something back (HDV far less tolerant of errors), and to be able to find a working machine easily (DV sold far more).

Multiple HDDs, regularly checked and backed-up in separate locations, are the way to go if you care that much. I thought about copying to DV for backup, but have never actually done it. HDDs are quicker and cheaper, though can't really be left on the shelf without a thought for so long. If I thought I was going to just leave everything for 10-20 years, I probably would write it out to DV tape. I stick it on YouTube too though - a nice free (low quality) cloud-based backup, for as long as it lasts.


Cheers,
David.

[sdsumike619]

Well, the only reason hard drives scare me is because just recently, I had to access something on one of my external firewire drives, and when I turned it on, I got nothing. It wasn't until after I pulled the drive out of the enclosure and hooked it to the motherboard that I discovered the drive was fine, but for whatever reason, something went bad in the external enclosure. I wonder if I could buy some SD cards in bulk from somewhere? So putting AVCHD onto miniDV isn't possible, and I suppose it follows that no camera will record 1080 video to miniDV tape either?