Capturing, widescreen & JVC GR-D70

[redlester]

OK so I've got my Sony DVD writer fitted to my PC and been playing with analogue capture via my WinTV card. It's OK, providing I de-interlace the file during mpeg2 conversion, but not good enough for archiving the precious old VHS stuff so I want to go to digital capture via camcorder. I have an existing mini-DV camcorder but it has no analogue input so is useless for the purpose.

The camcorder I like the look of is the JVC GR-D70, which has all the features I need, but can someone answer question number one: Is this model capeable of "digital pass-through" to capture straight to PC from VHS, or would I need to record onto DV tape first then playback to PC (i.e. twice as long to perform the capture process...)
This model is currently on the Comet web site at special offer of £479.90 which seems like a bargain to me....

Question two: presumably the GR-D70 can record in anamorphic widescreen mode? I can't confirm this from anything I've found on the web (why is there no instruction manual .pdf for this model on the JVC web site, only models GR-D20 to 50?) [Edit: I guess because it's a new model & they haven't got round to it yet..]
This is an important feature, as I have a widescreen TV.

I haven't decided what capture card to use to get stuff onto the PC, but it must be able to handle widescreen - presumably that's not a problem? I won't even start to ask about how I go about burning an anamorphic DVD, that can wait a while

[warpedmind]

i bought the jvc gr-dv700 its a bit more expensive dont know about passthrough but its widescreen and has a nice 0.7 lens which is amazing for wider field shots im new to all this but did a lot of research before i bought it if ya want night shots it sony but night on this is descent and in colour if youve got a steady hand its also 1.33 megapixal which gives excelent quality video and stills

[Wayne Moule]

redlester

The JVC is a no no > http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content...der_review.htm

[redlester]

Originally posted by Wayne Moule
The JVC is a no no

Thanks for that - it makes interesting reading, but it's interesting to read the comments by other users which follow it - there seems to be much disagreement about the picture quality being bad. The reviewer seems particularly keen on a Canon model that i'm not sure is available in the UK?

I realise this is a new model, so will broaden the main question a little:

Can any users of ANY JVC digital camcorder with analogue input confirm if it performs digital passthrough or not? If not, then which manufacturers/models will achieve this?

Oh boy, I've just read a review of the Sony DCR-TRV950, now how long would it take me to save up for one of those....

Actually I've now just seen a review of the Canopus analogue to digital converter - so I may not need a new camcorder at all!!