[badtz]

was wondering, i have a lot of 8mm tapes, but i don't have the original camera anymore........

how do I get these digitized?

do i get an 8mm cassete player and bring the video into a formac & into the mac?

what's the best method?>

thanks!

<small>[ 08-01-2002, 09:28 PM: Message edited by: Badtz ]</small>

[red rocket]

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Geneva, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="1" face="Geneva, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif">Originally posted by Badtz:
<strong>was wondering, i have a lot of 8mm tapes, but i don't have the original camera anymore........

how do I get these digitized?

do i get an 8mm cassete player and bring the video into a formac & into the mac?

what's the best method?&gt;

thanks! </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="1" face="Geneva, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif">Well, you could do that. I'm not sure what you'll do with the Formac once you're through digitizing your tapes.
There are also firms that will digitize your footage and send it back to you by mail. Might be cheaper. Or not, depending on what medium you want it transferred to. I'd probably buy a cheap 8mm player and a Formac over ebay, then sell them once I'm done.

BTW, seems to me you should have entitled your thread "8mm VIDEO to digital", when I saw the title I thought you meant cine film.

<small>[ 07-31-2002, 03:51 AM: Message edited by: red rocket ]</small>

[badtz]

disregarding price....... is the formac the best option?

[nuckin futs]

you can also get miglia director's cut 2, canopus advc100, hollywood dv bridge, or just a plain digital8 camcorder from sony.

[badtz]

.......right now i ha ve a stack of 8mm tapes with nothing to play it on [and to record into PC]........

what should i do?

[MoparSteve]

Originally posted by Badtz:
.......right now i ha ve a stack of 8mm tapes with nothing to play it on [and to record into PC]........

what should i do?

I think your best bet is to get a Sony Digital 8 camera. You can play the analog 8mm tapes in it and output to a VCR or the camera can output a digital conversion to your computer through firewire. The cheapest Digital 8 camera will probably be about the same price as the Formac, plus you'll have the function of a digital camcorder and a player for your old tapes.

[badtz]

digital 8 cameras also have firewire ports?

[MoparSteve]

Originally posted by Badtz:
digital 8 cameras also have firewire ports?

Sony's do. They call it i-link. I bought a Sony Digital 8 camcorder last year. The i-link / firewire cable does not come with the camera, so you'll have to buy it separately ($20 to $40). The camera works great with iMovie and my firewire Mac.

[badtz]

i thought only DV camcorders have firewire ports?

[MoparSteve]

Originally posted by Badtz:
i thought only DV camcorders have firewire ports?

The Digital 8's record in digital format. The only difference is that they record on 8mm cassetts and not the miniDV cassettes that most other DV camcorders record on. Sony, and one other company (not sure which one), are the only ones that make DV camcorders that record on 8mm. You're supposed to be able to play tapes recorded by an anolog 8mm camcorder, but I've never tried it. These cameras are less expensive than their corresponding miniDV cassett counterparts, but larger in size due to the larger recording mechanisms. Sony also uses less expensive lenses in the Digital 8's than the lenses in their miniDV (Carl Zeiss). I have a Sony TRV-DSC730 (Digital 8) and it has the i-link (firewire) port. I'm positive that all Sony digital camcorders (Digital 8 and miniDV) have the i-link port (but check the specs to make sure).

Steve

[deathandtaxes]

I did the same thing to recover my old 8mm analog tapes after my original Sony camcorder died. They play fine in a new Sony Digital8 and importing into iMovie via the Firewire/iLink cable is a snap. I think I bought a TRV240 model. You can find the cable on the internet or probably your local Radioshack. The local Wiz had the cable too, but they were price-gouging big time. The newer mini DV format has a smaller camera, but then you can't play your old tapes. I'm in the process of converting 8 yr old tapes into DVD on my iMac. It takes time but it's fun.

[badtz]

could i just "bought" one, burn my videos & "return"?

i know that's very awful of me, but I don't have the money to buy a digital8 & KEEP it

[deathandtaxes]

One hr of video sucks up 10+ gigs of hard drive space. Once you convert it to Quicktime, another 10 gigs. I can really only edit 1-2 hrs of video on my iMac at one time. Depending on how many tapes you have and your access to a DVD burner, it could take a long time or a whole lot of space to convert them. Find a friend with a camera.

[badtz]

well, i could just encode & burn each tape one by one