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General discussion

Digital 8 Camcorder - What to Buy Now?

Aug 5, 2006 7:27AM PDT

Warning: The following post is by someone with very scant technical knowledge about camcorders, so please bear with me if I don't get the terminology/technology quite right.

We are on our second digital 8 camcorder. We keep sticking with this format in order to be able to play back our tapes, which if I understand correctly, can only be played back if you keep getting this kind of camcorder. For the record, pretty much our entire lives are on this type of film. My dh takes video of everything, we rarely use still camera.

Our first camcorder, (Hitachi VM-D965LA), which also took still shots, I believe, worked great, until one of our daughters (toddler at the time) did something to it, or dropped it - somehow messed it up. Afterwards, it would only play back all our film in b&w, not color, and repair estimates were prohibitive.

Our second camcorder is a Sony DCR-TRV460 which I researched like crazy on the internet to settle on - bought for its good reviews, but primarily to play that digital 8 film. It also has a memory stick for taking still shots. All was well until my dh dropped the camera about a month ago. Now, when playing back, and I think recording, there is a messed-up picture.

We have not gotten a repair estimate yet. We are thinking of buying yet another digital 8 camcorder. I know there is some way to transfer these tapes to computer or something to that effect (sorry for my very limited understanding of all of this) but it seems like it's very time-consuming and we must have about 50-75 of these tapes from all the last 8 or so years (approximately?).

At this point, we seem to be trapped in the digital 8 camcorder conundrum: If we ever hope to finally transfer these tapes into a more up-to-date format, don't we need a properly working camera (as in, color playback or "picture not messed up" playback) capability in order to do this successfully?

Do we: a) Have any way out of this domino effect; b) Try to get the Sony fixed, regardless of cost; c) Buy yet another digital 8 camcorder; or d) None of the above?

Thanks in advance for any/all feedback and advice.

Cheers,
fifidanon

Discussion is locked

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I'm finding repairs on everything to be ...
Aug 6, 2006 11:06AM PDT

I'm finding repair of electronics to be getting harder to get done and more expensive at times than replacing the product. It's a cost/performance exercise.

The short list I see of the Sony Digital8 camcorders appears to be the TRV280, TRV285 and TRV460. Maybe there are others but in your case the TRY460 may be the right model since you'll be able to recycle your battery and other items.

This time you only need to be more careful.

Bob

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Bought the TRV280
Aug 9, 2006 6:05AM PDT

Thanks for the response. We were able to purchase a TRV280 over the weekend at Wal-Mart for about $260.00. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the TRV480 (and no remote - but we didn't use that much at all anyway) but it actually does take our batteries and other items. The price was right, and with so little left out there in the digital 8 arena, it seemed like our only real choice.

I told my dh I feel like one of the last beta users in a vhs world! Hopefully we'll be able to get our old films transferred to computer and be done with this technology once and for all. The whole formatting issue seems a little like a scam at times.

But you are certainly right about one thing, we do need to be more careful this time around!

Thanks again for taking the time to respond.

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The time has come to transfer your tapes to DVD.
Aug 9, 2006 6:12AM PDT

Transfer all your Tapes to DVD NOW while the camera is new. You can get a standalone DVD recorder for $150 and copy you tapes to DVDs. Any time you record a new tape copy it. The D8mm format is on the way out. John

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Buy a camcorder with a hard drive
Aug 9, 2006 12:01PM PDT

My wife and I recently just had our first child, so I wanted to get a new camcorder. Like you, I had the 8mm tape camcorder. It worked just fine, but I couldn't get replacement batteries for it. So to use it I would have to be attached to an outlet all the time. I was going to suggest getting a replacement on Ebay to playback all your old tapes. You could transfer them to dvd, but it will be a painfully long proccess for the amount of tapes you seem to have. To my understanding tranfer time is minute for minute - if you have a 3hr. video, it will take you the same time to transfer to a hard drive. I looked at MiniDV camcorders, which do take excellent video, but opted to get the Sony DCR-SR100. This has a built in 30gig hard drive. Plus it records sound in 5.1 surround. My decision was simple - I didn't want a drawer full of tapes. Not to mention the transfer time. The DCR-SR100 was pricey, but the bottom line it is conveniant and easy to use. Transfer time is quick(compared to tape transfer), plus you can immediately delete what you don't want, edit what you don't like and transfer to dvd very easily. I'm happy with it so far. Hope this helps.