Can I use a DVD recorder to convert analogue Video 8 to digital? Will it be as good as a Canopus 100 in converting the image? I have checked the archives and similar questions have arisen but the answer has been inconclusive.

I have an old, battered Sony TR530E Video 8 camcorder. It has two phono plug outputs (black and yellow if it makes any difference). I want to get about 40 hours of tape onto DVD before it packs up. I don’t want to edit them yet. I have a firewire iMac with Superdrive (DVD Burner) and was advised to get a Canopus 100 Analogue to Digital converter for £200.

However last week my trusty VHS went on the blink and looking through the racks of DVD recorders on sale, I noticed they had connections for analogue input. The salesman said I could use it to connect to my camcorder.

Is this the case? Would there be compatibility issues with either picture or audio (sync etc.) And what would the quality be like compared to the Canopus. The originals are not great but I want to prevent any additional degradation in image quality.

Should I forget the Canopus and get a DVD recorder. Once the transfer of tapes has been made I would probably not use it again. I don’t want to spend £200 unnecessarily; I would rather use the money to buy a DVD recorder with hard disk. Would this be false economy?

Finally I have to say how glad I am to have found a forum like this. All the small electrical shops that used to have knowledgeable staff now seem to have closed and the kids at Currys, Dixons and the like only know about the stuff on their shelves, if they know anything at all. As my old analogue equipment packs up I can see myself referring to this site more and more frequently.

Thanks in advance.

[MarkE19]

Hi Michael555 and welcome to the forum

The question as to which will give better results - ADVC100 or DVD recorder is impossible to answer really. The problem is that although the AVC100 is an excellent converter there are just so many different DVD recorders and some will also do an excellent job. To decide which at the end of the day gives the best results would require a side by side comparison which I have never done. But as I have said, they should both do a reasonable job of conversion.

The down side to the DVD recorder is you then have very limited editing options. Some basic editing can be done on the recorder if it has a HDD built in and you can always transfer the files from a DVD onto the PC. The problem with this is that the files are highly compressed when written to the DVD disk and therefore you will loose a fair bit of quality once you start editing, if any editing is required that is.

So all I can really offer as advise is to think hard and go with what you think will work best for you. It is very true that once all your tapes have been converted then you are unlikely to reuse the ADVC100 but a HDD/DVD recorder will be used to record from the TV etc. But on the other hand if you need to edit the captured footage then you will loose quality via the DVD recorder which you have stated you don't want to do. Some editing software will loose only a small amount of quality, but the down side is to achieve this the edits are no longer frame accurate.

Mark.

[shoehorn]

Originally Posted by MarkE19

It is very true that once all your tapes have been converted then you are unlikely to reuse the ADVC100

If you want to go down this route Michael 555, why not use e-bay?
Get one from there and then re-list it once you're finished with it.....

Mark / Shoehorn

From what you say it seems to me that the DVD recorder route could potentially save me a few £££'s or it could be an expensive mistake; there will be no way of knowing if I have made the right choice until I get everything hooked up.

I shall therefore bite the bullet and get a Canopus, then whatever I can recover from its subsequent sale can go towards a DVD recorder.

Thanks for the help.

Michael