Sorry to resurrect old post, but didn't want to make a new one and I have a similar issue.
I have a curious case that I've been dealing for over a month. I have a set of 12 minidv tapes to transfer.
I have been using my SONY DSR-25 DVCAM wich can plays and outputs either NTSC or PAL, so that's a plus.
Transfered all the tapes with WinDV, then joining all the files with
VirtualDub secuence.
All tapes were transfered as PAL (or most at least). Most did ok. Then I did the restoration process with Avisynth.
However some tapes act weird. Like some weird pixelation / small random squares and sound dropping in/out. For what I know seems that those tapes are recorded in LP. (will upload video later, right now the PC it's encoding 8hs+ at 4fps ).
Sadly the DSR-25 doesn't work with LP. Just SP.
For what I read in this forum and others, LP on miniDV can vary from brand to brand (Sony, JVC, Canon, so on) and it's prefered to know wich was the camcoder used to record it.
The owner gave me a Samsung cheap DVcam. But this it's NTSC... so how all the tapes were PAL?
Sadly the samsung eats tape so I didn't play much with it.
So, question time:
A) I am looking for a camcoder for MiniDv LP playback. Any recommendations? I guess most will recommend Sony. If can specify models, better. Also, is there a camcoder that will play most of LP formats from different brands?
B) When connected via firewire, can a NTSC MiniDv camcoder play a PAL format recorded MiniDV tape and output properly?
I have seen mixed opinions on this subject.
Thank you all!
Ofesad.