BetaCam SP and Firewire

If I take a BetaCam SP deck and hook it up to a Conopus external box and take firewire from there to my computer is there a loss of quality??I am thinking so but I really do not know the particulars....?If I do it this way what kind of sequence settings would I use to work with??Would it just be NTSC DV?

Thanks

Phil

BetaCam SP and Firewire

Technically, yes, there would be a quality loss because you're going from an ''uncompressed'' analog source to a 25mbps, 5:1 compressed intraframe digital video stream. This can be minimized as much as possible by using component out of the Beta deck--though I'm not sure what Canopus box you're working with, so you might not have that capability. The ADVC-100/300 don't have component in, so you're limited to composite (ick) or S-video (slightly less ick). Combine those factors, and technically you'll be incurring a quality loss. Practically, though--that's for you to decide.

I capture SP tapes through a Blackmagic Designs DeckLink SP card, using component. However, I use DV as the codec that I capture to--for my purposes, I'm satisfied with the quality. When I'm ready to online this project, I'll go to uncompressed, but for most of what I'm doing, DV is sufficient. The shooter for this project uses a once-top-of-the-line Betacam camcorder, with about a $24,000 hunk of glass on the front. Even capturing to DV, it beats the pants off of what I've seen from most DV camcorders--and I'm talking full-size DV camcorders like the DSR-570. It's amazing what a difference good glass makes. That's just another thing to consider.

EDIT: Oh, yes... if you capture this way, just use a standard NTSC DV preset. The files you're ending up with are no different than those that come from a miniDV camera.

BetaCam SP and Firewire

Thank you very much Colin for taking the time to explain it.

I am using the Canopus ADVC 300 so my best option is S-Video.?I have another one of these around here so I will look and see if it is the same model...

Thanks again...

Phil

Technically, yes, there would be a quality loss

You're welcome.

The only outboard A/D converters (i.e. on the desktop and not in the computer) I found that would accept an RGB/YUV input were in the thousands of dollars. Canopus (now Grass Valley) makes them, and DataVideo had a couple too. It's cheaper, though maybe not as convenient, to but an add-on card for your computer. Old DeckLink cards can be had on eBay for pennies on the dollar--though I should note that the old PCI varieties don't work with 64-bit operating systems. Caveat emptor...