Question: What is better about a VTR Deck then a camcorder? I'm assuming you have better control, but is it more for broadcast or could a hobbyist benefit from it? I was looking into the Sony DSR-11 DVCAM/DV Compact Player/Recorder, but at $1,650 I'm wondering if I could just get by with buying a cheaper camcorder to capture video.

Answer: It's always a good idea to use a separate deck because the process can really beat the heads and mechanical parts on any camcorder very quickly. The DSR-11 does have a robust tape drive, the ability to record and playback DVCAM tapes as well as mini-dv, it has a track record of quick rewind and fast forward and doesn't burn out faster than a camcorder will. It also has the ability to record and playback NTSC or PAL video. If you need these features go ahead and purchase it. If you don't need these features, we highly recommend using a cheap mini dv camcorder as a playback deck. A low end camcorder can transfer data just as good as a high end camcorder and standalone players or recorders (like the Sony DSR-11) use the same mechanical parts as their Sony camcorders! just in different housing.

What you record and how it's is recorded is what will play back regardless of what you use to run the footage through for viewing.

DV video is basically data on tape. The camera compresses it into a DV datastream and writes it to the tape. If you use FireWire to transfer that data from the tape to a computer, the only processing going on is error correction. In the end, it doesn't matter what camera (or standalone deck) you use to suck the video into a computer.