DV Deck Solutions

i have a pretty nice camera and i keep using it like a deck. i capture everything strait from the deck. i even use it as the pass thru for monitoring my edits in fcp. the firewire port is starting to get a little sensitive. i know its just a matter of time b4 i have to repair the port.
so i was wondering if there were any inexpensive deck solutions or work arounds for not having a deck. are there other connections such as using 1394ie, or special other than firewire connections that may be better at least same quality.

basically, i need to stop using my dvx100b as a deck i think constantly doing this is a bad thing.

pre thanxs

""" What you do with what you have, is more important than what you could do, with what you don't have."

> > > Knowledge + Action = Wisdom - J. Corbett 1992 """"

using your camera as a deck is the surefire fastest way to shorten its life

the cheapest deck that is realistically useable in a "pro" environment is the sony dsr11. you can pick them up used about anytime for $800 to $1000ish.

aside from that, you can always use a go-between like the canopus products. i use a canopus advc110. they are about $250 or so and in addition to being a good monitoring go-between, they are also cool for capturing vhs, hi8, etc...

I've used the ADVC100. It works well. Be warned, that everything else in that price range for an analog -> digital converter doesn't work very well.

I don't do enough capturing to warrant it, but I've often wondered if buying a $299 mini-DV consumer cam wouldn't work well enough. Wouldn't do much to impress the clients, but I don't know if you do that type of work anyhow. I'd think that the camera used to capture and playback wouldn't matter (much), only the CCD's would make a difference.

Just a thought.

good call mike. i did that a few years back with a little $400 sharp viewcam model. it was controlable via fcp - not sure if timecode was accurate, but i was just doing capture now so it wasnt an issue.

i was looking at little pocket minidv cameras a few months back (as my above mentioned sharp model has fallen victim to a permanent "dew" issue) and for the money, the canon elura100 looked fantastic!

i capture a lot. i think i am doing 4-6 tapes a week. and i like the monitoring thru my cam. a consumer cam may be the ticket.
i even think i have an old panasonic gs220 somewhere.

they do need a deck that falls about 499. so that it can be a little more accessible

thanx mike w.

""" What you do with what you have, is more important than what you could do, with what you don't have."

> > > Knowledge + Action = Wisdom - J. Corbett 1992 """"

you think mindv decks are expensive? try going to broadcast. even the dinkiest "barely there" beta sp deck is still $8000.