Somebody told me not to buy the Panasonic DVC30.

Incomel
Member

Ok so I was talking to some guy that works with transfering videos to digital format and he told me not to buy any panasonic products (I am considering buying the Panasonic DVC30) because any dv tapes that you use can only be played in other panasonic products and no other dv tapes that were recorded on a sony, jvc, canon etc could be played through the panasonic. I did not know this. Is that true? He also said that any of his sony equivalents would "eat up" the panasonic. However from the reviews I have read and from the forum discussions I haven't read that to be true. I know the sony is better in low light but most reviews placed the dvc30 over the other canon, sony, jvc equivalents. Help me sort this one out please.

Posted 5 years ago #
compusolver
Member

There can be problems when playing a tape recorded on one camcorder, from another. In my experience, this has nothing to do with different brands or models. One of my Sony VX2100 tapes may not playback well in the other VX2100.

I own Panasonic and Sony DV cameras and have not found any particular difference when playing tapes from one camera, through another except as related above.

As a rule though, I try to use only Panasonic tapes in the Pannys and Sony tapes in the Sonys and to capture to computer only through the camera that recorded.

Posted 5 years ago #
Incomel
Member

Thanks again compusolver for helping me out. I don't have enough money to buy two cameras even if it was a problem and if I ever do upgrade and to another computer I will most likely have all my video captured to my computer and on discs anyway.

Posted 5 years ago #
tpainter
Member

I have a dvc30 and I have definately used other tapes than panasonic in there.

It is recommended that you do not mix brands of tapes - the different brands use different types of lubricants or something like that - Sony is a wet tape and the Panasonics are dry - if you mix tape brands without properly cleaning the heads before switching, then it could gum up the heads.

Posted 5 years ago #
Andrew Burke
Member

tpainter is spot on. It's a bad idea to mix brands back-and-forth. If you stick to one brand, you should have fewer problems.

I've worked on plenty of shoots where we used Sony tape and Panasonic camcorders. We did not have any dropouts or odd tape issues.

-andrew @ videomaker

Posted 4 years ago #
Ryan3078
Member

I don't know if this helps, but I have a Panasonic PV-GS39, and I taped some footage at school on a Canon XL2. The video played back fine on the Panasonic but the audio skipped, made loud electronic noises and was unusable. I had to transfer the footage at school from the Canon to a computer, then burn the 3 gigs of footage on the Mac's 1X DVD burner. So keep DV tapes with the camera you use and don't use them with different brands.

Posted 4 years ago #
compusolver
Member

I guess, if you're paying fifteen hundred or less, it might be an Ok camera, but keep in mind that they call this one "prosumer-lite" because of its 1/4" CCDs and it's consumer-like lack of good manual controls.

Posted 4 years ago #
Ken
Member

Incomel,

I think that guy that works with transfering videos got confused with a proprietary format, DVCPRO, that some high-end Panasonic professional camcorders use. They can use a standard miniDV cassette, or a special larger cassette. Sony does a similar thing with their DVCAM format. These special formats run the tape faster, and record more information per frame, allowing a more professional result. Having a Panasonic DVC30, I can assure you that it is NOT a DVCPRO unit. It records in a normal DV format.

BTW, I am very happy with my DVC30. :D
Ken Hull

Posted 4 years ago #