View Full Version : Will Sony Digital8 player/recorders work when digitising tapes?


Patrick Bronte
September 8th, 2017, 03:14 PM
I have hundreds of Sony Digital8 tapes and a fair number of Sony Hi8 Tapes. After a catastrophic disaster to my HDDs all my digitised versions of the material on these tapes were lost. So I now need to re-digitise the whole lot as quickly as possible as time has degraded the image and sound quality. The camera I recorded the interview material contained on these tapes and used to digitise them, the Sony DCR-TRV330, is now starting to die. After looking for a replacement option, I found the Sony GV-D200 which looks like it could help my workflow due to not having to turn the camera upside down each time I have to change the tape plus it would fit well on my desk next to all the other essential editing pherphials. So with all that said my question is:
Will a completely refurbished Sony GV-D200 enable me to digitise my Hi8 and Digital8 tapes using the latest version of Adobe Premiere Pro? I also have Final Cut Pro 6 which being an older version of editing software could be an option but I prefer using Premiere Pro.
Will I be able to preview what I am digitising and control the device within either of these editing programs? Will it digitise the tapes at a higher quality than using the now 17 year old Sony DCR-TRV330 camera? I use a Sony HVR-M15U to digitise my miniHDV tapes using Premiere Pro and I can control the deck and preview what I'm digitising. Plus, it does a far superior job as far as capturing the quality of video and audio as opposed to using the camera I used to record the material I am now digitising. Will the Sony GV-D200 give me that same ability when digitising Hi8 and Digital8 tapes?
I'm using the Sony HVR-M15U on a Mac Mini with a 2.5GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor and 4Gb of RAM and for a Mac with such low Specs it does as good a job as my late 2015 iMac. Will the Sony GV-D200 work as well on this Mac mini as the Sony HVR-M15U?
Any advice, answers or comments would be very much appreciated.

Don Palomaki
October 31st, 2017, 04:42 AM
At least with Edius Pro NLE on a WIN7 PC, the GV-D200 works well for me with Hi8 tapes when connected via IEEE 1394 (aka: firewire, iLink) cable. I cannot speak to how it would work with a MAC.

I can control the player from the NLE and it provides basic TBC and noise reduction capability. Because the tape transport is like that found in a camcorder it is not fast in FWD or REW modes.

One word of caution, Hi8 tapes recorded at LP speed might not track well. This is a common issue with ALL 8mm/Hi8 recordings when played on other than the machine that recorded them.

I don't know the camcorder you mentioned so I cannot compare it. It should do the D8 ok, but I have not touched D8 in many years

Adam Gold
January 11th, 2018, 04:28 PM
Digital8 tapes are already digital so will have the same quality no matter how you play them back. Hi8 and Standard 8 are analog so they might be better from the deck if it's been gently used.

Note that not all of their decks (and camcorders) will play back all formats. This one does.