Mini DV to pc

tbgjlb

Hi
I have a few old mini DV tapes but no camcorder and would like to copy them onto my pc , any ideas ????

One idea I had was to buy a cheap camcorder from Amazon for about £50 with usb 2 connection , would this work.

Any other ideas would be great

Neil49

You may be better off sending them to a company specialising in converting from tape onto a dvd. If your pc doesn't have a dvd player then it would still be cheaper to buy an external one to copy the contents onto your pc.

tbgjlb

I'd rather do it myself

forgotmyname

Depends on the recorded format/speed, I had an old 8mm recorder and the tapes were in long play, trying to find another camera that plays at the same speed is a pain. Purchased 3 now and the speed is not right.

Jon_01

Getting a secondhand unit could give you all kinds of problems. It'll have worn heads, the tape transport mech could be slipping and as the tapes were recorded on a different machine you might have issues getting the tracking to lock and stay in sync.

As has been suggested above, in the end it could be cheaper to have all the footage converted by a company that has pro equipment and then spend your time doing the editing...

stragglebod

If the recordings were tracked correctly then as DV is a digital format you should be able to copy them across perfectly.

Chances are USB transfer won't be full quality, so also factor in the costs and practicalities of adding a Firewire PCI adapter.

Unless you have loads it'll probably not end up much if any cheaper than having them done professionally.

googler

Don't look for a camcorder, look for a stand-alone playback deck such as would have been used in an editing room by a professional or serious amateur. Partner this with (say) a stand-alone DVD recorder or HDD/DVD combo recorder, and if needed, transfer to PC by ripping the DVDs

tbgjlb

This has become too complicated, all I thought was get a camcorder connect to pc and away I go. I have about 20 hours worth of unknown film (mostly baby stuff ) and did not think it would be this complicated, now reading your replies and looking around the internet do I go and let someone else do it , buy a deck of some sort ( money allowing), find a camcorder with I believe usb 2 for better speed, or camcorder and some sort of capture card\ IEEE 1394 converter etc etc etc. .
Obviously not going to be so easy to decide which option to use

Thanks for the help I'll keep looking , if anyone has suggestions to such a device (mini DV deck}
I'd be grateful

googler

There's a host of stand-alone machines on eBay at varying prices. My inclination would be to buy one, transfer the tapes, then re-sell it on eBay for a few pounds less than you paid.

In what format do you want the final result? If you want it in files on the PC, transferring direct to video capture card may be the way to go. If you want physical discs to give to family, getting a DVD recorder, then backing up the DVDs to PC may be best.

If there's someone local to you who is already set up to do this commercially, that's clearly the easiest way. You could ask at local photography or video societies to see if there's a keen amateur who might do the job.

tbgjlb

As far as format goes ,as long as it's generally accessible under the normal formats I really mind just as long as the quality is usable.
Not sure how to use a video capture card but I'll look into it.
And what would be the best description to search for eg mini DV player, mini DV deck to get the best results on Google or eBay

stragglebod

Don't get a capture card. That would involve converting the digital video from the camera to its analogue outputs, and reconverting it back to digital in the capture card.


Result: enormous files, lower quality.


Absolutely no reason why you shouldn't use a camcorder if you can connect via Firewire. All you're doing is copying a computer file from one device to another.


If you have a desktop pc with a spare slot you can get a Firewire adapter card for about £10. You may even already have the headers unused on the motherboard though unless you can find the cable that came with it you'll do well to find an internal to external cable.


If not, things are a bit trickier converting a laptop to firewire. I've seen PCMCIA adapters if you have a slot, but no idea if they work.


I'm not aware of a firewire to USB adaptor that works, ignore the cheap converters that show up on ebay, they don't work.


You could always buy a used laptop that has firewire, I've found one for <£100 on ebay, then sell it on when you're done.


Basically, if you can get a camcorder that works and a Firewire connection, it should be easy to transfer the digital files across. Otherwise, go to a specialist.