Anyone make an internal mini-DV tape player

[Thorny]

I think this would be easier than hooking up the DV camara, especially when your going through many tapes in one sitting. I can't seem to find one, but surely I"m not the only one whose thought of this. Anyone ever seen one before?

 

[gsellis]

Sony did at one point, but that was a few years back. No more. They quit making them, but sometimes they show up on Ebay. They are starting to get some hours on them, so not sure they would be a deal.

Decks are available, but are all firewire attached. I think there is a deck for $800 still from Panasonic, but don't quote me on it. After that, you get to Pro decks starting at $1500. None of them are internal.

Cheap solution if you are worried about using your camera is to buy a $200 special closeout mini-DV cam and hook it up. Folks are buying Canon HV10s as cheap HDV fortheir more expensive Canon HDV cameras. Same with the Sony HC1/3 for Sony's. Sony has a HDV deck (4 flavors now), but still, not an internal.

If you are hoping for a time saver, no luck there as the 5.25 mini-DV was still 1:1 capture. You have to get a FireStor HDD device for a mini-DV (plugs into the camera's firewire) to do that. Similar to having a HDD camera, but you get the tape too.

 

[Thorny]

Originally posted by: gsellis
Sony did at one point, but that was a few years back. No more. They quit making them, but sometimes they show up on Ebay. They are starting to get some hours on them, so not sure they would be a deal.

Decks are available, but are all firewire attached. I think there is a deck for $800 still from Panasonic, but don't quote me on it. After that, you get to Pro decks starting at $1500. None of them are internal.

Cheap solution if you are worried about using your camera is to buy a $200 special closeout mini-DV cam and hook it up. Folks are buying Canon HV10s as cheap HDV fortheir more expensive Canon HDV cameras. Same with the Sony HC1/3 for Sony's. Sony has a HDV deck (4 flavors now), but still, not an internal.

If you are hoping for a time saver, no luck there as the 5.25 mini-DV was still 1:1 capture. You have to get a FireStor HDD device for a mini-DV (plugs into the camera's firewire) to do that. Similar to having a HDD camera, but you get the tape too.

Thanks for the response. I didn't have my hopes very high on finding one at a reasonable price anyway. I wasn't really looking for an increase in speed, but just the convenience would make it worthwhile to me. Oh well, I guess I'll do it the old fashion way.