[gixxermenace]

I am thinking of buying a cheap sharp Hi8 camcorder off ebay to us on my motorbike for high speed footage and it has S-Video out so i guess this means i can connect it to a pc (my current graphics card is a Nvidia Geforce FX5700 ultra - it has a S-Video socket, will this be ok ? )

Also is Hi8 quality any good ?

[senu]

The s-video socket on your PCs video card is likely to be s video out ( as well) unless expressly stated otherwise ( as with an analogue capture card, TV card or ATIs "all in wonder" series)
That means it will output to a display but be incapable of taking an input from the camcorder
If it is possible to take an input it would have a software bundled which will help you capture.

Hi-8 is analogue video and there are examples of great analogue video but it is doubtful if these will come from a cheap sharp camcorder: There are "affordable" miniDV ones which would need footage captured by firewire whose output is less likely to be disappointing
but
Although to be sure, there are "poorly" made MiniDV examples , in general as a format it is likelier to give you better than Hi-8

[gixxermenace]

this is the hi8 i am looking at, what do you think ?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...MakeTrack=true

[senu]

Originally Posted by gixxermenace

this is the hi8 i am looking at, what do you think ?

It looks OK TBH What do you want to do with the footage? You will get better IQ with MiniDV but that would cost you more and to get one with AV-in these days is very hard
I like the fact that this one has AV in.. you could actually get a bullet cam and connect it up.
If you could get a MiniDV model for not much more you would have better quality video and easier PC capture via fire wire
As for how you get the video on the PC
You could record it to settop DVD recorder, or Use one of many affordable capture devices such as THIS

[gixxermenace]

I have been told its a Sharp VL-H860S - does anyone have any info on this model/pics, its going to be used for motorbike footage so i am happy i can put a bullet cam on, it means i can secure it in my backpack and put a bullet cam maybe on the front mudguard

[DigiStuff]

Hi,

Heres a link for the manual http://www.tradenet.sharp.co.uk/file...LH860H-006.pdf

but having a quick read already I don't see that it has a video in feature.....

I don't remember many of the Viewcams having this feature anyway on the Hi8 models. It was something that was just not done in the UK around this time...

Sorry to bring bad news...!

DigiStuff

[senu]

Originally Posted by DigiStuff

Hi,

Heres a link for the manual http://www.tradenet.sharp.co.uk/file...LH860H-006.pdf

but having a quick read already I don't see that it has a video in feature.....

DigiStuff

Thanks for that
You are absolutely right ... I had a "not so quick" read as well and didnt find AV-in either... Is it a case of inadvertent or deliberately misleading description on e-bay...
Actual model nos are a must when buying this sort of thing as e-bay "type" adverts can lead to buying the wrong thing
Buyer beware... Sorry not as useful as Id thought then.. Good job you hadn't bought it first

[BillJohnson]

I used to race a Westfield (Yes, I know it's a car, not a bike) and tried mounting a Hi-8 camera in it. Although the mount was very secure the vibration was so bad that the film was completely unwatchable. I suspect that a bullet cam is the answer.