Depressing but...

[wado1942]

I just threw $2,400 in the trash today. I no longer have a working camcorder after 11+ years of shooting MiniDV. I tried to repair it, but no such luck and the thing isn't worth selling for parts. I am ONLY equipped to shoot film now.

[mr8mm]

After 11 years mini-dv is obsolete technology. Time to upgrade with another $2400 investment. J.S.

[wado1942]

I just won't be investing in any new video technology any time soon. I'd rather hire another poor sap to shoot video for me when needed and I'll just stick to shooting film myself.

[Nigel]

If you break down the numbers.

Your camera cost you ~220 a year.

That will buy you less than 9 rolls with processing of Super8 sans Xfer per year. To me the cost to replace the video camera with today's technology would well be worth it and still shoot the Super8 on top of it.

After all what would that $2400 get you today?

Good Luck

[S8 Booster]

My Sony DCR 120 DV camcorder has served me for 10+ years or so flawlessly and still do. I only use electronical imagery for job purpose. The problem arising with this cam is that it can not be connected to my main Mac Mini for transfer / edit as the Mini has no FW 400 ports only 800. Up to now I solved this by vialink it to a LaCie external disk which interconnects the FW400/800 anf USB for that matter. Recently i thought the Disk died so I looked for alternatives and was prety fedup with the slow Mini DV tape data transfer anyway so I looked for altenatives and ended up with a pretty cheap Sony HDR PJ10e shooting full 1920P and everything below storing the data on an insertable SDx or MSx card of up to 128GB capacity.
Its it pretty fancy in several waysand has a built in projector which can probect imagery up to 3m.
www.trustedreviews.com/sony-hdr-pj10e_Camcorder_review
Next surprise was that I could not import files of more than 1080x with my old iMovie software so I had to but the new 11 version to get full power. It wasnt a bad deal anyway.
Fast data transfer over USB 3.0 is really a relief compared to the tapestry.
The cam has a lot of pretty fancy opportunities but linited exposure control. It shoots pretty well under all circumstances and the colours stays pretty ok in low light too - much better all over than the old 120 T for APE
Worst things about the new cam is the lack of a true viewfinder, it has a flip out screen only which even at its brightest setting is barely visible in bright sunlight. It also makes it difficult to shoot moving objects.
The image stabilizing system is fab and works well with the 30/42x zoom.
Well, new times arising at a reasonable price of about $550 or so.
I use this cam for tech documentation only but also brought it on my recent trip to Japan in April for convenience and technical stuff. Like to mention that the image stabilisation is so good that a tripod is almost not necessary.
For my favorite film shooting activities I prefer S8 by far but have a full rig Canon Scoopic MS 16 with 120m mags in back hand if the 16mm film format become the best available.

Shooting .... whenever possible......

[Angus]

I have discovered that my phone shoots quite acceptable 1080i video.

Therefore I have gone out and bought some super 8 film.

I have four camcorders...hi8 analogue, digi8, miniDV and hard drive HD....mostly they gather dust.

[wado1942]

If you break down the numbers.

Your camera cost you ~220 a year.

That will buy you less than 9 rolls with processing of Super8 sans Xfer per year. To me the cost to replace the video camera with today's technology would well be worth it and still shoot the Super8 on top of it.

After all what would that $2400 get you today?

Good Luck

See, I just don't shoot that much video. In recent years, I've always borrowed/hired a better camera for pro work and I don't shoot many home movies. I may buy another video camera in the future, but the standard model for shooting video is changing rapidly and I want the new ideal to improve in quality/drop in price before I pay that kind of money again. In the mean time, I could shoot 16mm reversal and spend less per year than I did on my video camera.

[lightmachine]

I love it. Shoot that film. Phones record video, plenty of camcorders around to borrow but film is where it's at.
I'll swim through sharks to shoot film.

[Will2]

I totally get waiting on digital tech if you can. Amazing how fast it's changing and how really good it's getting.

Spend your money on good lenses that will work with your film cameras and any decent digital camera that comes along. Either C-mount or PL I would think depending on the level of camera.

When the time is right and you have the money and the need you'll get an amazing digital body super cheap. In the mean time you'll already have great lenses for those film cameras that never go out of style.

[MitchPerkins]

I just threw $2,400 in the trash today. I no longer have a working camcorder after 11+ years of shooting MiniDV. I tried to repair it, but no such luck and the thing isn't worth selling for parts. I am ONLY equipped to shoot film now.

Can't use it as a deck, or d/a box? One of our VX2000's puts dropout all over the tape, but still great for streaming/transferring into the computer...

Mitch

[Will2]

Can't use it as a deck, or d/a box? One of our VX2000's puts dropout all over the tape, but still great for streaming/transferring into the computer...

I just picked up a Sony DSR-45 DVCAM deck for $300. Got lucky since the going rate is about $900 or those now. That was my dream deck back when it was $8000. I have such a huge catalog of DV and DVCAM tapes lying around that I thought it was worth the investment just to play the archive tapes.

[wado1942]

No using it as a transport. The DV port was busted long, long ago.

As for pro DV decks, I've only seen them with SDI digital outputs, never 1394. That defeats the whole purpose of them... to edit without recompression

[Will2]

As for pro DV decks, I've only seen them with SDI digital outputs, never 1394. That defeats the whole purpose of them... to edit without recompression

The DSR 10 & 45 have 1394 for sure. Those big ones maybe not. I like the 45 because it has a tiny built-in screen for monitoring.

[wado1942]

I do need to do something, because I have 90 some odd tapes that need to be backed up to something before there's nothing on the planet that can play them... which seems like it will happen sooner than later considering the short life span of MiniDV transports.

[Will2]

I'm mostly concerned about my Digital 8 tapes. I don't run into a lot of those players and I need to transfer those soon.