First, I want to apologize. This is only my second post and once again I’m starting a new thread. I know that goes against basic Internet conduct but I can’t find the info I need at any other site.
Here’s my issue:
In the early/mid 2000s I owned one of those mini digital video cassette cameras. I found the picture quality amazing (by the standards of the day, anyway).
Then my camera fried beyond repair. The years went by and I pretty much just let my collection of tapes sit in my desk. Now I really want to get them either on a hard disk or DVD.
So my question is, how can I do this? It doesn’t appear as if these types of cameras are made any longer (technology seems to favor cameras with flash drives today). Are there any options out there, such as players, that could allow me to do this? (At an affordable price, that is.)
I’d hate to purchase a used camera on eBay for this purpose. It appears that the technology is old so I really would have no use for it for shooting video. I’d be willing to buy one to make the transfer as a last resort, though. However, I have so many hours of video that I’m sure it would fry the camera before the task was complete. (Those cameras’ Achilles heel seemed to be that the motors had a short life.)
There are services that will do it for you. Check your local listings for “miniDV conversion”, or you can find an online merchant. There are a bunch on Google and on eBay (with good feedback ratings).
If you have a lot of them, the least expensive way would be to buy a used camera with a digital output. It was not my experience that the motors crapped out of any the cameras I had…clean the head periodically.
The most convenient way would be to use a service.
I’ve done it both ways; I think both Sams and Costco were pretty cheap but I haven’t checked in a long time, since I converted all my stuff years ago.
But if I were you, I would buy a used camcorder.
I seem to recall I also had an intermediate piece that would do the capture/conversion, but now I think most movie editing software would do that, and you can set the capture size depending on your storage capacity and quality constraints. Storage is so cheap now it’s probably not the issue it used to be.
As I recall, I had a Sony camera so the best connection for me at the time was Firewire. Those cards are still cheap, I bet, if you need one and your current computer doesn’t have a Firewire port.
Depending on your budget, Canon still makes MiniDV camcorders but they run around US$1000. That’s what I paid for mine about 4 years ago. Amazon Japan has used camcorders starting from US$200.
I certainly understand your problem. It is one I’ve been putting off for a few years.
I have an old Sony camcorder with Digital 8 tapes and a newer camcorder with mini dvd - which at least is a digital record albeit on tape. The newer cam will digitise Video 8 data on the fly if it is run through a cable to the mini camcorder. The mini camcorder will send the image on through firewire to my pc if I’d only sit down and spend the 200 hours required to do it.
Frankly if you have the money, pay someone to do it. Otherwise get a firewire cable - except new pcs don’t use that anymore.
How much can a used mini-dv camera with firewire be on ebay ? $50 ? There were go pro mini-dv players with firewire out but they probably cost more than that. I suspect one mini-dv camcorder will do the job for you (despite your worry about the motor), at the lowest cost. Hell, I’ve still got a mini-dv camcorder with firewire that I’d sell you myself if you’re located in the central illinois area.
How much time do you have? I think miniDV transfer takes at least the same amount of time as the video. You could look for shops that do LP to mp3 and scan photos, they’d probably do this too. I personally have some HD miniDV tapes that I want to transfer (I don’t think my SD camera can play them).
Definitely only possible at real-time speed AFAIK on any kind of equipment I’ve ever seen. Firewire control has the ability to start and stop it though so with the right software you don’t actually have to sit there, you can tell it when you want to start and stop and walk away.
Search for any mini-DV camcorder at a reasonable price, even if the new-video components (lens, CCD, etc.) are screwed. Mini-DV decks are, were and remain horribly expensive. A shop will charge you around $1-2 a minute, $30-50 minimum, to capture the material. So a used or borrowed camcorder is probably your best bet. Happy to help with further details.
As recently as a year ago, eBay had many such cams for sale. Not cheap, either, as many were semi-pro originally. We decided to pay $1000 for a complete overhaul for one of ours rather than buy a used one, as we have thousands of tapes and still use the format extensively. So they usually can be fixed (ours had a new head and complete alignment by a factory authorized shop), and they can still be purchased.
I have been unable to find a DV deck for any price cheaper than a camcorder, so we use the camcorder for both recording and playback using firewire to PC.