Hardware to capture VHS-C to p.c.

[Pandora]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

I have just started video editing on a p.c. and have a Sony TRV30E DV
camcorder which I connect to my p.c.'s Matrox RT.X100 card to capture
DV.

However, I also have about 50 old tapes of composite video in VHS-C
format, which I would like to transfer (not all at once!) to the p.c.
for editing.

The VHS-C camera I've got is about 11 years old and sometimes the
tracking on this camera is poor on playback, so I don't think this is
going to be good enough to connect to my capture card.

I could use a motorised VHS-C adaptor to play my camcorder tapes in a
VCR connected to the Matrox card. (The VCR is a Sony SLV-777UB which
is a good quality stereo unit.) Or I could buy a second hand VHS-C
camcorder for about £50 on Ebay and use that as a tape player.

Anybody been down this path already who could share their experience?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

I'd try the adapter first since most people have a VCR handy that'll
play the tapes.

However, as I've found, earlier VHS-C camcorders easily drift out of
alignment, and if the head was such when recording the tapes, you'll
often encounter a very hard time achieving any sort of stable playback
w/o the original, misaligned camcorder.