Changing 8mm video cassettes to dvd?

Submitted: Friday, Jul 16, 2010 at 18:01
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I know this is slightly OT, but i'll ask anyway, I have several 8mm video cassettes that I want to change to dvd, the old 8mm video camera is Kaput and we recently purchased a new JVC camera with a Dual SD card system, so all the new stuff we take is up todate, is there an adaptor or what ever that can convert 8mm to dvd or what equipment do you require as we have heaps of old video recordings that we want to change over.

Cheers
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Reply By:- Friday, Jul 16, 2010 at 18:10

Friday, Jul 16, 2010 at 18:10
Hi Daza,

Thee is an adapter lead you can buy to connect your camera to a computer to transfer the video, cost about $100 from harvey norman, works quite well. If your camera isn't working then maybe your only option is to get a video editing company to do it. do a google search for your city and I'm sure you will find plenty of places to do it.

Cheers
Evan
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Follow Up By: chevypower - Monday, Jul 19, 2010 at 08:16

Monday, Jul 19, 2010 at 08:16
$100 for a cable? You are getting ripped off.

My advice is get a used Digital-8 camcorder. They transfer straight to digital (DV codec) and they have a built in Time Base Corrector and Noise Reduction. It will connect to your computer using firewire, and I have found this to be the best solution. You can preserve your Video 8 tapes as DV files, best way to preserve them. Some Digital 8 camcorders will also to direct AV-DV conversion, so you can plug your VHS VCR in to it, and it will convert it to a DV stream on the fly. Remember that DVD is a good way to distribute and watch now, but not good for preservation. Digital files are best for that.
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Reply By: Member - Mark G Gulmarrad - Friday, Jul 16, 2010 at 18:17

Friday, Jul 16, 2010 at 18:17
Daza

bben looking at the same thing myself.......have found these on Ebay which are pretty good value i think.

video to dvd converters
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Follow Up By: dbish - Friday, Jul 16, 2010 at 19:00

Friday, Jul 16, 2010 at 19:00
Daza, you will need a 8mm projector & screen to set up & use your new camera on a tripod & just play the movie & film it. Thats how I transfered my 8mm movies & was satisfactory. Daryl
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Follow Up By: Cruiser .- Friday, Jul 16, 2010 at 19:36

Friday, Jul 16, 2010 at 19:36
dbish

I think they want to go from 8mm video to DVD, not super 8 film to DVD

Cheers,

Cruiser
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Reply By: Sand Man (SA) - Friday, Jul 16, 2010 at 19:33

Friday, Jul 16, 2010 at 19:33
Daza,

We experienced this exact problem last year.
Our 8mm Sony Video camcorder bleep itself. Apart from a Video Editing Company doing the job (very expensive) there was no other option as the 8mm format was unique and you cannot use an adaptor to play the tape through another recorder or buy a stand alone recorder that accepts the 8mm format.

SWMBO was the clever person who happened onto our solution.
We went along to our local Cash Converters store and they had a few different second hand 8mm recorders to choose from.
We selected one for around the $100 mark and proceeded to do what we had done before our original camcorder stopped working. Simply connect it to the DVD recorder and capture the output, then copy it to a DVD.

Sony quoted us something like $200 plus to replace components on the circuit board on the old camcorder.


Bill.
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Follow Up By: ExplorOz - David & Michelle - Monday, Jul 19, 2010 at 19:55

Monday, Jul 19, 2010 at 19:55
Bill,
SWMBO is very clever I will be off the cashies in the next few days to get a replacement machine. I was transferring mine when the 8mm machine blew up. I had it plugged into the Kaiser Bass (spelling) Video Converter it works well until the camera blew up.

Thank your boss for me... I did not even think about this option.
David
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Reply By: Member - Graham H (QLD) - Friday, Jul 16, 2010 at 19:41

Friday, Jul 16, 2010 at 19:41
My thoughts The same 8mm home video players were made and may still be around. They should be verrrrrrry cheap.

However NOTHING is cheap at Crash Converters.
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Reply By: Member - Christopher P (NSW) - Friday, Jul 16, 2010 at 21:12

Friday, Jul 16, 2010 at 21:12
Dick smith carries an adapter, it is in a radio shack package. you might be lucky in getting from a store. I can't remeber what the cat number is!!!!!
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Follow Up By: Sand Man (SA) - Friday, Jul 16, 2010 at 22:36

Friday, Jul 16, 2010 at 22:36
I don't think so Chris.

To the best of my my knowledge there is no such thing as an 8mm video adapter that allows these tapes to be played on a VHS player or any other player other than an 8mm camcorder.
The two formats are incompatible.

You can buy an adapter to accept a mini VHS tape and convert it to the larger VHS tape size, them play it in a normal VHS player.


Bill.
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Follow Up By: Member - Christopher P (NSW) - Saturday, Jul 17, 2010 at 18:54

Saturday, Jul 17, 2010 at 18:54
The 8mm video format refers informally to three related videocassette formats for the NTSC and PAL/SECAM television systems. These are the original Video8 (analog) format and its improved successor Hi8 (both analog and digital), as well as a more recent digital format known as Digital8.

Which format??????

I am no expert.
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Follow Up By: Member - Christopher P (NSW) - Saturday, Jul 17, 2010 at 18:55

Saturday, Jul 17, 2010 at 18:55
i do have a computer card that does do video to computer. its a videum. If you live in newcastle can help you out!!!
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Follow Up By: Sand Man (SA) - Saturday, Jul 17, 2010 at 19:55

Saturday, Jul 17, 2010 at 19:55
Chris,

What do you put the tape in?

The core problem as I understand what Dazza is saying is that his camcorder is on the fritz. You still need a working camcorder to plug into whatever you are using to do the copying.

Bill.
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Follow Up By: Member - Christopher P (NSW) - Saturday, Jul 17, 2010 at 21:21

Saturday, Jul 17, 2010 at 21:21
so your saying this little gadget wont, work in a normal vcr.

VHS_C ADAPTOR

righto a bit of web searching.

Your up the creek without a paddle!!!!!

still looking for more information.
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Follow Up By: Member - Christopher P (NSW) - Saturday, Jul 17, 2010 at 21:31

Saturday, Jul 17, 2010 at 21:31
After a read, i have found this!!!!

8mm/ hi8 players and sundrie

the other site i frequent because i'm a tight ass is this.....


electronic service information.

i'm sure you could find something
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Follow Up By: Sand Man (SA) - Monday, Jul 19, 2010 at 19:50

Monday, Jul 19, 2010 at 19:50
Christopher,

The VHS-C format is the same as the full size VHC tapes and therefore are compatible with each other.

I have an old VHS-C adapter which is the same size as a full VHS tape.
You insert the VHS-C tape into the adapter and then shove the whole adapter into the VHS recorder. No problem with this.

However, the Video8 format that was "popular" for a while was completely different.
You could not realistically buy a player to play these tapes and had to use the camcorder plugged into a DVD recorder or PC.

Your reference to the players available on Ebay are not exactly viable. The cheaper one at $458 for one from the States is OK if you have plenty of money, but a bit over the top when all you wish to do is copy old tapes onto a different format.
The Sony Camcorder at (currently) $58 is a used unit still under bid and also not a realistic option.

I still like the solution I gave to buy a second hand camcorder from Cash Converters which comes with a money back guarantee.
It worked for us and was a quick and relatively cheap solution after our original camcorder cacked itself.


Cheers,
Bill.
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Reply By: Michael ( Moss Vale NSW) - Friday, Jul 16, 2010 at 21:32

Friday, Jul 16, 2010 at 21:32
Daza, Some good and very important advice... Dont disgard your tapes after you move them to DVD. Be aware that burnt DVD's may only be good for 5 years and possibly up to 10 years if you store them correctly as they are ink based and are not the same as a commercially made DVD/s which has a life of around 100 years, some manufacturers think.. Remember, if your old magnetic 8 mm tapes get a little faded or tardy from old age or get jammed in your video camera, you can still repair them and watch them but if you scratch a DVD or dont store them properly or they fail to run in your DVD player for any reason, you have nothing.. My advice is to copy and or edit (its time consuming and hard work) to DVD and then buy a good quality external hard drive big enough to fit all you prized movies on and if you have kids, do another hard drive for them in case yours is stolen or the house burns down, you still have a copy.. Copying your tapes to VHS is still a good option but a little bulky. All your original 8mm tapes should be fast forwarded every year or so, so they dont ghost and lose their clarity, im not sure what the term is but it has something to do with the magnetic tape sitting in the same position for long periods of time. Hope this helps. Michael
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Reply By: Member - RockyOne - Saturday, Jul 17, 2010 at 10:25

Saturday, Jul 17, 2010 at 10:25
The value to yourself of the on tape memories will increase every year, however, the 'use by date' approaching faster than you may realize, depending of course on many factors, certainly including storage, temps and humidity. As a last resort and it will likely be your best, send tapes off to DVD Infinity to get burned ont DVD at better than the originals quality. I have had my army/ skydiving 8mm & 16mm movie films done, VHS / S-VHS / 8mm analog / 8mm digital / mini DV-Cam & full size DV-Cam tapes all done. Magic results. Mention to Bruce Josephs or Peter Coghlan that that rogue, Brian (Lofty) Harris sent you there and they will look after you even better. They cost only in proportion to the output quality. Recommended! www.dvdinfinity.com.au
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