OLD 8mm tape footage ,Lost? at DVinfo.net

Eugene Bare · October 9th, 2005, 01:09 PM

I have and old 8mm tape that has some very important footage of my grand parents on it. However the only way I can see it is to put it into my camcorder press play then fast forward , I get no audio and it is of course speeded up. The cam I have now is not the one that I recorded this tape with (no longer have that one). Does anyone know of a way I can retrieve this footage?

Richard Alvarez · October 9th, 2005, 04:53 PM

Well you can check with any post and transfer houses that might be in your area, and see if they can transfer it.

Short of that, haunt ebay, and thrifstores for what I assume from your description is an 8mm video camera. (NOT Hi 8, or Digital 8?) Some of the high end cams are backwards compatible.

Good luck.

Jack Smith · October 9th, 2005, 07:46 PM

As Richard said,try the tape in other cameras ,the d8 's are backward compatible
It's possible that the original recording camera had misaligned heads.The recorded tape then would not be playable in anything with correct alignment.
You could try a repair service that might be able to play the tape and misadjust the heads to coincide with the tape.Once you capture the footage and any other tapes that you may have recrded with that original camera, a trip back to the repair shop and correctly realign.

Craig Bellaire · October 11th, 2005, 10:14 AM

This also could be Long Play mode and the newer cameras only play SP mode...

October 9th, 2005, 01:09 PM	#1
Eugene Bare Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Shenandoah Valley, Virginia Posts: 53	OLD 8mm tape footage ,Lost? I have and old 8mm tape that has some very important footage of my grand parents on it. However the only way I can see it is to put it into my camcorder press play then fast forward , I get no audio and it is of course speeded up. The cam I have now is not the one that I recorded this tape with (no longer have that one). Does anyone know of a way I can retrieve this footage?

October 11th, 2005, 10:14 AM	#4
Craig Bellaire Major Player Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Rochester, NY Posts: 422	LP Mode This also could be Long Play mode and the newer cameras only play SP mode... __________________ Craig Bellaire www.VerticalVideoSolutions.com

October 9th, 2005, 04:53 PM	#2
Richard Alvarez Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: San Mateo, CA Posts: 3,840	Well you can check with any post and transfer houses that might be in your area, and see if they can transfer it. Short of that, haunt ebay, and thrifstores for what I assume from your description is an 8mm video camera. (NOT Hi 8, or Digital 8?) Some of the high end cams are backwards compatible. Good luck.

October 9th, 2005, 07:46 PM	#3
Jack Smith Major Player Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: ontario Posts: 445	As Richard said,try the tape in other cameras ,the d8 's are backward compatible It's possible that the original recording camera had misaligned heads.The recorded tape then would not be playable in anything with correct alignment. You could try a repair service that might be able to play the tape and misadjust the heads to coincide with the tape.Once you capture the footage and any other tapes that you may have recrded with that original camera, a trip back to the repair shop and correctly realign.