The VJzoo.com Studio Rig

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Sony GV-D300E (PAL) Video Walkman - Mini DV editing recorder also marketed (obviously!) as a mini-DV walkman. Much better quality heads than the consumer-end cameras and thus a lot more expensive. This model doesn't have an LCD screen, but it has a bunch of inputs & outputs, so you can view on a monitor, TV or even on a camera.

These regularly go on eBay for about $1000 and are much sought-after by VJs. In our experience, they're the best way to record your desk-out at good resolution with no compression issues. Prices of good quality tapes are coming down, so now we pretty much just use Master Tapes.

There is a similar version available with a screen GV-D900E. The E means PAL version.