It's amazing that MiniDV is now "yesteryear". To me, that's still a newer format.
Just to be clear: MiniDV and DVCAM are two different formats. Both use DV compression, but it's variant format with some difference. So I want to verify the exact format being used. That could be the difference here.
Quote:
DVCAM - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DV#DVCAM
In 1996 Sony responded with its own professional version of DV called DVCAM. Like DVCPRO, DVCAM uses locked audio, which prevents audio synchronization drift that may happen on DV if several generations of copies are made. When recorded to tape, DVCAM uses 15 μm track pitch, which is 50% wider compared to baseline. Accordingly, tape is transported 50% faster, which reduces recording time by one third compared to regular DV. Because of the wider track and track pitch, DVCAM has the ability to do a frame-accurate insert edit, while regular DV may vary by a few frames on each edit compared to the preview.
|
I never came into contact with DVCAM, only consumer DV and DVCPRO. I'm not certain that the standard tools will transfer DVCAM.
And in those cases, you may want to simply transfer via analog s-video. Yes, it will have some (mostly imperceptible) detail loss, but may prove easier in the long run. As you mention, this is not for pro work anyway -- just personal. I do this myself, just to avoid hassles of Firewire and DV playing nice -- which it often does not. Either way (all-digital or analog), quality will appear worse than HDTV, the modern benchmark. It will be at least as good as S-VHS, the best of analog formats.
Since you had pro cams, I'm guessing it was actually 720x480 detail, having good glass/optics. Consumer cams were usually so grainy that it was comparable to 352x480.
On the flip side, it may be a problem IEEE1394/Firewire port. I never liked Firewire, PITA ports.
