they use the old Hi8 mechanical chassis which is much more stable then the very small mini dv one. afaik they use a larger rotary head which causes less problems then the highspeed dv drum unit.
anyway, i worked as technican a few years before, in my opinion dv is a crappy system. picture quality maybe nearly fine but the mechanical specs with the resulting problems (azimuth, tape run, posts and heads) are nearly impossible.
overall i'll would never buy a mini dv one.
cheers, waterproof


