[capableweb]

Slightly off-topic, but bit related:

I'm about to start a project for digitalizing a bunch of recordings from a 1990s Sony Handycam for a film project run by a friend of mine. The quality doesn't have to be perfect, but I want to ensure I don't risk degrading the "tapes" themselves. Anyone know of any hardware that is up for the task? Doesn't have to be professional quality, but of course I want good results.

Just about to start the project so haven't had time yet to look into what hardware I need yet, maybe people here have good ideas, you usually do :)

[haunter]

I went with a lazy way to digitalize old VHS/VHS-C tapes. Bought a Panasonic DMR-EX99V [0] which is a DVD/HDD/VHS/TV tuner combo in one. That was the last model Panasonic made and it also has an HDMI output. So basically I recorded all the VHS to the internal HDD > then just moved them to the PC through the DVD recorder. It has a USB port but unfortunately you can't access the raw recorded files on the HDD that's why the DVD > PC step is needed. I'm not an expert probably someone could hack it to gain access... Anyways it was one of the better purchases I've made. Works perfectly and so far no problems at all. And it just works hence why I said lazy at the beginning, simple system with good quality.

0, https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71mbsPXPhzL._AC_SL1500_....

[jacquesm]

The big problem with old tape is that it tends to stick. Try winding it manually for a short stretch to see if the tape is still loose and if it isn't then you probably should contact someone with more expertise to get the tape to be unstuck before putting it in a machine. Stuck tape also tends to break very easily.

[Gordonjcp]

Sony Handycam implies possibly Video 8 or Hi8 tapes.

If you can get hold of a Digital8 deck that works (and well) then you can hook that to your PC with a FireWire card, and do a direct digital capture of analogue tapes. The DSP in the D8 deck will do an excellent job of decoding, far better than an analogue deck, and you'll get a really clean output without all the "convert down/convert up/convert back down" thing you get using composite jacks.

You'll need to convert the raw DV files into something suitable for editing and distributing, but I guess - since you're on here - you already know about ffmpeg.

Here's an example of a very old - 2000/2001 or so! - tape that I had lying around in a box in the shed for the past 20 years. I shot it with a hand-held Sony Video 8 camcorder when some power station chimneys were being demolished near where I worked. This would (of course) be the day I forgot to throw a tripod in the car, "Oh I don't need to pack that, I've got one in the workshop, I'll leave mine at home..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPmCygZIjio

It was a pretty grey and drizzly day, as I recall. I could have got the colours up a bit in editing but I didn't feel like it, and this is pretty much how it came off the quite-badly-damaged tape.

[actionfromafar]

If the tapes are really degraded, state of the art is to digitize them once and do that run as good as possible.

Stuck tapes sometimes are stuck because of moisture. In that case, the tapes are "baked" at a certain temperature to get the moisture out. If the tapes are in really bad condition, you get only one chance to capture what's on them, but the flip side is that one run can be of pretty high quality.

Edit: if your tapes are DV or Digital-8, get a camera with firewire out.

If your tapes are Hi8 analog, get a digital-8 camera which can play analog tapes with firewire out. You won't get a better quality without going the VHS-Decode way.

If none of that is an option, get a decent composite to HDMI converter, than capture the HDMI from that into a PC with a HDMI ripper.

Or one of those "HDMI to SD card" rippers floating around.

[jccalhoun]

assuming the camera has rca out jacks, you can get a rca to hdmi adapter box for less than $20. If you computer doesn't have hdmi capture they also make rca to usb boxes as well (I don't think the cables from rca to usb without a chip in it will work but I might be wrong). Then OBS can record it

[sneak]

They also make little devices that take a usb thumb drive and have a little screen for preview, then you don't even need to tie up a computer while doing it.

Just hit record on the box with the usb stick and hit play on the VCR and set a timer to come back in an hour or two.

[mosquitobiten]

https://timfordphoto.com/lossless-422-digitizing-of-video-ta...

if the camera is working and has RCA plugs