DVCAM is Sony's professional DV format, recording at 530 video lines. It competes with Panasonic's DVCPro and JVC's MiniDV Format. The video quality of these 3 formats is the same, but DVCAM and DVCPro have different track pitches and extended timecode capabilities.
MiniDV has a narrower video track, so you are more likely to have problems playing the same tape on different machines. The wider tracks of DVCAM make tracking easier and provide for better tape handling.
The primary advantage of DVCAM is apparent when moving tapes from one deck to another, and when useing them in a linear editing environment. You will need a full sized DVCAM deck to play these tapes back.
Unsolicited Customer Testimonial:
By the way, I have gone over all of the footage and must say that I am very happy with the MiniDV tapes of the film that I sent to you. Also, thank you for doing it quickly and for packaging everything up so that I could understand what was what.
