Connecting Sony TRV228E Hi8 camcorder to Panasonic DMR EZ47V VCR

Filemakerphil

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I am trying to convert Hi8 tapes to MP4 files. I'm a beginner at this, but have been successfully converting VHS tapes to MP4 by playing them on the Panasonic and using Elgato software on a Mac to capture them and convert to MP4.

My strategy for the Hi8s is:

a) first, convert them to VHS by linking the Sony camcorder to the Panasonic VCR
b) then convert the VHS tapes to MP4

The bit I am struggling with is a).

The Sony advice is to put a jack into the AV Out on the camcorder, and put the yellow and black connectors on the other end of the cable into the IN video and IN audio holes on the Panasonic. See screenshot.

The cable I have does not have yellow and black connectors. It has yellow, red and white. Not sure if that matters, or if white = black.

On the back of the Panasonic, it is not clear to me which are the IN video and IN audio holes. Photo attached.

Any advice gratefully received. Will make a £30 contribution to a UK charity of your choice for anyone who helps me solve this, or split that donation sum if more than one helper.
 

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Black or white connectors will be the same, so can be interchanged.

Why are you plugging into the back of the unit? Use the sockets on the front of the Panasonic.

Don't record to VHS first, as this will make the quality much worse. Just use the Panasonic to convert from analogue from the camcorder to digital HDMI by selecting the input so that you can see it on the TV screen.
 
noiseboy72 – thank you. I hadn't even seen the sockets on the front which tells you something about my capability.

At the moment, do not have a TV connected to the Panasonic, but I can of course see the video playing on the camcorder.

The two attached photos show the connections in place now:

1. Camcorder connected to Panasonic via sockets on Panasonic's front

IMG_2498.JPG



2. Panasonic connected to Mac via sockets on Panasonic's back into USB on Mac.


IMG_2499.JPG



When I play the camcorder, the Elgato software on the Mac does not display the playing footage as indicated by these:

Screenshot 2021-08-18 at 11.10.24.png



Screenshot 2021-08-18 at 11.10.31.png


I also have one of these:

IMG_2500.JPG



Don't suppose you have any ideas on that score do you?

Hugely appreciate your help.

Philip
 
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Why do you need to go through the Panasonic? At the moment it is set to the wrong input, that's all. Set the Panasonic to AV3 input.

You can connect your camcorder directly to the capture device. The most you will you need is a set of barrel connectors, to connect the phono leads together.
 
That's very kind of you. Please find a food bank local to you, as we regularly support our local one. Trussel Trust I think covers a number of them.
 
Thank you. To put this donation into context, you just fed a family of 4 for 2 weeks :)
 
Hi
USE the S-Video output on the camcorder if you can. Hi-8 tapes are capable of S-VHS which has better quality than the standard Compsite (Yellow plug) connection.

The S-VHS connector doesn't carry audio, so you still need a dedicated audio connection as well as the S-VHS


Ignore that. Just looked at the user manual, doesn't look like your camera does not support S-VHS out.
 
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Re above message

I've just checked (I have a CCD-TRV228E in at the moment) and it does have an S-Video output socket just under and to the left of the lens, it normally has a round removable rubber cover marked (albeit not very clearly) S-Video. This will give noticeably better picture quality.
 
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Hi John and Peter - I didn't see it at first, but there is an S-video out on the front, so I've switched to connecting with that for the video and the white and red for the audio, and all seems to e working fine. Thanks. So satisfying when it works!
 
If your capture device has an S-Video, plug directly into it from the camcorder, as that will maximise quality.
 

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