Camcorder - Analog to Digital Pass Through

[kpeterk]

I am looking to put some old VHS movies onto DVD. I would also like to purchase a camcorder. Here is my question. I've heard there are camcorders that offer analog to digital pass through. Has anyone tried this? If so, how is the quality and which camcorder do you use? Would I be better off to just purchase a stand alone box that will convert analog signals to digital? Thanks for the help.

 

[erik1975]

My Sony TRV-730 Digital8 camcorder does this. It is a very conveneint feature. I used to use it to connect a VCR to my iMac. I installed BTVPro and had essentially the same thing EyeTV gives you.

Please note that not all Sony camcorders have this feature. I have a friend who had the TRV720 and the feature was not there. In fact I think they took it out in the 740. I have not looked at the specs for the 'mini-DV' cameras to know which ones do or do not do this.

Good luck!

P.S. You can also use the camera for iChat AV video conferences, although some models will power off after a few minutes if you do not press the record button.

 

[FriarTuck]

Sony TRV 22 does it. I've been meaning to get to that project, but I just haven't gotten around to digitizing our VHS stuff yet.

 

[Macophile]

I have a Canon Optura 20 that has digital pass-through. You lose a little bit of the quality in the conversion, just because you're using an analog VCR to do the transfer, but it's not nearly as bad as the generational loss in an analog-to-analog duplication, for instance. If you can get a VCR with an S-video output, so much the better. If you're going to be buying a camcorder anyway, I'd say it's worthwhile looking for this feature. It doesn't seem to add much to the final cost unless you're looking at the super cheap low-end models.

 

[cr2sh]

I have a Sony Digital8 that digitizes analog 8mm tapes.. very useful and you can find them super cheap anymore.

The quality of the original recording is maintained.. which isn't saying a lot.

 

[jimsowden]

I have a canon gl2 which obvoisly does it with its 2700 price tag. The canon ZR series are the best bang for your buck, with the zr80 at the apple store for 399! Regardless to say you can easily find a better deal eslewhere, like at amazon.