O.T. Camcorders

Alan V · Aug 6, 2008

Most of the year my camcorder sits in the back of the closet, but during the summer months I like to take lots of video clips of tractor shows and our own machinery in the field. This year my 8mm camcorder conked out, so I figured it was time to go out and buy a new one. Stopped at places like Best Buy and Wal-Mart, and they tell me that 8mm camcorders are no longer being made or even available any more. The problem is I have a shoebox full of tapes from the past twenty years or so and have no equipment with which to view them. Sure, I could take the tapes to a place that transfers videotape to DVD, but at $15 per tape - I don't think so. Is anybody else out there in the sme predicament?

Anonymous-0 · Aug 6, 2008

You could look for a later-model camcorder that is compatible with your tapes but has digital output. Some of them had tape carriers that let you use other format tapes. The auction site, half.com, Amazon, and Craigslist would be good places to look. The digital output feature would let you transcribe your own tapes as well as take new ones.

thurlow · Aug 6, 2008

Is 8mm the same as a VHS tape; if so, you can buy a machine to transfer them to DVD for less than $100. Forget the name (direct to DVD, or some such), but the kid at the store will know.

old bc · Aug 6, 2008

You might have to buy a used camcorder or player off ebay to transfer your videos.

http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=m38&_nkw=8mm+video+camera&_sacat=See-All-Categories

http://shop.ebay.com/items/?_nkw=8mm+video+player&_fromfsb=0&_trksid=m270

KEB1 · Aug 6, 2008

For something in the $30 - $50 range you can get a video to digital converter that plugs into a USB port on your computer. You use the camera to play the tape back with the camera's video output feeding through the converter, and end up with a digitized version on your hard drive. Assuming you have a computer new enough to be able to write DVD's, you can edit the digital version and write it to a DVD. A little more work than paying someone else to do it, but pretty cost effective if you don't count your time.

Keith

buickanddeere · Aug 6, 2008

8mm digital cam corder will playback the 8mm analog tapes.

JohnDeere720 · Aug 7, 2008

I feel your pain I was lucky in that when my DV camcorder died I had already transferred most of my videos to my computer. A friend recently purchased a Sony Hard Drive camcorder and man that thing is sweet. It is up and ready to shoot in just a couple of seconds. The only down side is that you only have a finite amount of space before you have to down load to a computer. But it is in the order of hours of video. The beauty is that the recordings are stored in seperate mp2 files that are ready for copy to your computer via USB and don't have to be captured to a converter. With it being so easy to copy the files you may get in the habit of saving them off every time you use it.

O.T. Camcorders

Alan V

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Anonymous-0

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thurlow

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old bc

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KEB1

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buickanddeere

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JohnDeere720

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