Hi,
I have just bought a Panasonic NV-GS35 MiniDV camera, primarily for capturing in tapes for editing on my laptop. However, when I tried to playback a Sony DVCAM tape today, I found it played, however, but with some image breakdown.

Does anyone know if panasonic MiniDV cameras play DVCAM tapes, or do I need to buy a Sony DVCAM camera?

thanks
Nikki

[DigiStuff]

Hi,

As far as I remember that you will need at least a SONY camcorder to so this if not a DVCAM camcorder to get best results.

Cheers

DigiStuff

[MarkE19]

I have seen it mentioned (by Roy Mallard IIRC) that all recent Sony camcorders have been able to play DVCAM tapes. However I don't think this is a standard feature of all DV camcorders so your best bet would be to beg, borrow or steal a Sony cam to play the DVCAM tape, but at least you wont need to spend a fortune on a DVCAM camcorder.

Mark.

damn! It looks like I need to trade up...thanks for the advice though...

[emocean]

The problem is that DVCAM tapes have about 50% more resolution on them than MiniDV so while its usually possible to play a MiniDV tape in a DVCAM it is not usually possible to play a DVCAM tape in a MiniDV Camera.
You could always hire a DVCAM if it is a one off project. Try http://www.creativevideo.co.uk/pages/cvp_rental.htm for an idea on costs.
Another option is to have the footage converted from DVCAM to MiniDV but you will lose some resolution.