8mm video to dvd machine?
 

Hi all, does anyone know if there is such a thing? We are wanting to take our Hi 8 tapes and put them onto dvd but dont want to run them through the digital cam and into the computer and then author to dvd. Im not sure I even have a Hi 8 cam around anymore. We would like to make this process as painless as possible as we have crates of tapes. Anyone else in the same boat? I see we can pay $24. per tape but that would take crates of $$$ to make that happen also. I know Im probably asking to much. Any Ideas?

MPEG2/DVD is digital. You will have to convert the Hi-8 to digital.

Hi Terry,

I moved your thread into our Open DV discussion forum; the Area 51 forum is for rumors weird stuff that isn't necessarily video related.

First (obviously) you will need a hi-8 camera or deck to play the tapes. Then I think that the easiest way to do what you want is to buy a standalone DVD recorder. They will have analog inputs (composite and s-video) so you can plug the camera directly into the recorder. Then just put a blank DVD in it, push the play button on the camera and the record button on the recorder and sit back while it makes the copy.

DVD recorders have gotten very inexpensive these days, and you don't even need a very fancy one for what you want (you don't need firewire/ieee-1394 for example). See if you can find a hi-8 camera which has s-video output though because it will give you much better quality than regular composite video.

To get a better image, you could play your Hi-8 tapes in a D-8 camera and output via firewire to a standalone DVD recorder.

The only Digital-8 camcorder i'm aware of that will even play the Hi-8 or 8mm tapes is the Sony TRV480...but good luck finding one they dont make them anymore. If you don't have a camcorder anymore borrow a friends or neighbors (I'm sure some old gomer will have one still :) just kidding to anyone who still owns one... ) and then buy a DVD-recorder like the other guys are suggesting.

All right, well thanks for the help. I was hoping to find a dvd recorder that had an 8mm tape slot like the dvd recorders with the vhs slot. Time to drag out the old camera. Thanks again TAG

I have a DCR-TRV340 Digital 8...and it will play Hi-8 tapes with no problem. Almost all Sony DCR-TRVXXX Digital 8 cameras have Pass Through settings, and will also output Hi-8 through the firewire port. I saw a DCR-TRV460 the other day at Walmart for $250. Also check BH Photo they might have a good price for one.If you have that many tapes to convert it might be worth the money to invest in one. If you do use your old one, make sure the heads are still good on it.

Jerry,

Try this link: http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTE...icSearch-Start

There are two sony dvd recorders that do what you are looking for.

Good luck!

Leslie

The Sony GV-D200 is an 8mm playback deck. It has a firewire connection too.

http://www.hificomponents.de/images/songvd200.jpg

You can probably pick one up on ebay for a pretty good price these days.

Great, thanks all. I appreciate the help. TAG

8mm will play and digitize through Sony Digital 8 cams. You should be able to find fairly cheap ones out there. Pinnacle 10 plus has a straight DVD recorder included, that will capture firewire signal of the Digital 8 and record straight to the DVD burner. I was surprised how easy it worked. It will actually do "chapters" with thumb nails for you for easy browsing through the recorded disk.

My "old" Sony TRV-730 also plays back Hi8 tapes and digitizes it out through the Firewire port. That is one of the major reasons I bought it over Mini-DV--I had a crapload of Hi8 tapes too.

I was under the assumption that all D8 camcorders were backward compatable. If so, then you could just get a new one for around 200 bucks or an old one like mine on Ebay for about the same. (It cost me $1000 back in 2001!)

They are not. Although they may be able to accomodate the tape, not all of them were capable of reading older analogue hi-8 tapes. I bought a TRV-480 a year ago specifically because I had accumulated a small mountain of older hi-8 tapes I needed to digitize so I dropped by Wal-Mart to check out their D8 models. I bought the 480 because although they had two other lower priced models in stock at the time, only the 480 (of the ones available) listed backward compatibility with older hi-8 and standard 8mm analogue tapes.

I never really looked into it, but I'm wondering if perhaps having the ability to read and digitize older analogue tapes that were recorded in EP mode would pose a potential complication....don't really know - I have never had a problem digitizing the older tapes with the 480.
-Jon

Yeah I think you guys either forgot you did research to pick out which ones take Hi-8 or you just got lucky. The TRV280 is a (relatively) new model and it doesnt do Hi-8 and out of like 15 I looked at 3 years ago when I was considering a D8 camcorder...like two had backwards compatability.