Videomaker by Mark Holder

Lacking some of the bells and whistles of its pricier competitors, but Datavideo's DN-60 compact flash card recorder gets the job done at a fraction of the cost.

If you've got an aging DV or HDV camcorder whose heads are beginning to fail, or perhaps you simply want to step into the digital age, but your older camera still delivers great footage, then strapping a direct-capture-device onto that prized piece of video history may be exactly what the geriatrician ordered.

Getting Older

Like all of us, camcorders eventually begin to age and parts don't work as well as they once did. Even then they may still have a lot of life left in them and aren't ready for the Soylent Green factory just yet. With two cameras fitting that description, a Canon XL2 and a JVC GY-DV100U, one begins looking for the camcorder fountain of youth. Some great products exist on the market today that are quite capable of meeting that need, but may be cost prohibitive, particularly when you have multiple units waiting to be sprung from the video retirement home. The Datavideo Corporation, however, may have come to the rescue with its DV/HDV Compact Flash card recorder - the DN-60.  read more...