[kata_tutu]

My Sony HC96 was stolen from my car. I now have the problem of how do I edit my old mini-DV tapes or import them into my MacBook? I recall that the HC96 was filming in 'widescreen' - not sure if this was strictly 'true widescreen' or not. Do I need to get the same camcorder exactly to import my old tapes (not many around on Ebay). Will any mini-DV camcorder (even non-Sony's) playback and retain the 'widescreen' effect. I was using iMovie 6 HD on Mac in 16:9 format when importing. Sorry for essay.

[chrishull3]

Originally Posted by kata_tutu

My Sony HC96 was stolen from my car. I now have the problem of how do I edit my old mini-DV tapes or import them into my MacBook? I recall that the HC96 was filming in 'widescreen' - not sure if this was strictly 'true widescreen' or not. Do I need to get the same camcorder exactly to import my old tapes (not many around on Ebay). Will any mini-DV camcorder (even non-Sony's) playback and retain the 'widescreen' effect. I was using iMovie 6 HD on Mac in 16:9 format when importing. Sorry for essay.

Any mini dv or hdv cam will play and capture your footage.

[kata_tutu]

Originally Posted by chrishull3

Any mini dv or hdv cam will play and capture your footage.

Is that even if the camcorder does not have widescreen capabaility?

[chrishull3]

Originally Posted by kata_tutu

Is that even if the camcorder does not have widescreen capabaility?

as far as i know mini dv didnt have true widescreen but this i dont know for sure,but i can see no way that any mini dv cam would not play the footage,hdv cams were all widescreen.

[grahamlthompson]

Originally Posted by kata_tutu

Is that even if the camcorder does not have widescreen capabaility?

The widescreen capability is produced by replacing pixels with black ones so the image is 16:9 with black borders in a 4:3 frame (The effective resolution is reduced). Transfer is the same, how it's interpreted by the capture software is the only difference.

[chrishull3]

Not true widescreen ,i thought no mini dvd had it but only canon mini dv was true mini dv.
Other Features - Sony DCR-HC96 Camcorder Review - MiniDV

[rogs]

The widescreen mode on my old Canon MV500 didn't add black bars, but merely changed the pixel display ratio - presumably by adding an appropriate 'flag' to the meta data.

I suspect the Sony is the same, especially as the owners manual mentions the need to set a TV to display the 16:9 format correctly. (Obviously from the early days, when TVs were still all CRT, and had 4:3 and 16:9 display modes which weren't automatically set by broadcast 'flags').

PAL DV video is always 720x576, so you can either crop with black bars to get 16:9 or change the pixel display ratio.

So, the footage should replay OK from any DV camcorder (unless of course it was recorded in LP mode, which can give problems on different camcorders).

Whether you'll need to set the TV display mode manually, to display the correct ratio?.....

If you are intending to edit the footage in the future-- especially for display on a PC, or on the web -- then you would probably be better off resizing the 720x576 footage, so that you can display using square pixels. Makes life so much easier than faffing around with relying on aspect ratio display 'flags' to make your image look right!

[grahamlthompson]

Originally Posted by chrishull3

Not true widescreen ,i thought no mini dvd had it but only canon mini dv was true mini dv.
Other Features - Sony DCR-HC96 Camcorder Review - MiniDV

Sony had a semipro model with a 16:9 720 x 576 output. A modified trv950 (Sony DSR-PDX10P). You dont see the black bars even a standard 950 but the true resolution isn't 720 x 576, it's extrapolated and noticeabally worse. The well heeled could buy an anamorphic lens which used the full sensor area (it cost more than the average camcorder). In any case the DV capture software I used to capture on the fly from mixed footage adjusting the par as required.

http://www.avsforum.com/t/381131/16x9-camcorders

[chrishull3]

Yes i had mini dv from 1995 including the best prosumer of the lot the vx2000

[grahamlthompson]

Originally Posted by chrishull3

Yes i had mini dv from 1995 including the best prosumer of the lot the vx2000

Too poor in 1995

[chrishull3]

Originally Posted by grahamlthompson

Too poor in 1995

A knowledgable bloke like you knows it was the big step up from analogue that most craved.