Converting video8 to digital

elgato video capture

 

That elgato unit will degrade the image noticeably. If you don't want any visible degradation, look at the Canopus 110.

 

The "without spending hundreds of dollars" part implies you should use a service to do this.

There's not going to be some cheap option if quality is a goal. "Precious" implies that quality is a goal.

Share the idea with everyone you know and see if they- or maybe someone they know might- have a good piece of equipment for this very thing. Then rent it or borrow it.

You might also be able to call local video studios and see if they'll rent you some quality hardware for a few days so that you can do this (well).

 

He can buy a used canopus 110 on eBay from a reputable seller, then resell it when he is finished with his project. He won't lose more than $30-40.

 

See if you can find one of these used or perhaps for rent.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...Design_VIDREC_Video_Recorder_USB_Capture.html

It can accept s-video. I've used one extensively. It works very well.

Added: which isn't to say that the Canopus 110 isn't a good solution for you. I'm only reporting that the BM device does the job also.

 

How many tapes do you have?

Actually there is no way to do this without sending in the low three digits. Even if you were to convert the tapes for free you still need to store and backup the the files and that means at least three disk drives or an on-line backup service

Buying used equipment is good, then you re-sell it and the cost is not much.

The equipment suggest is OK but one other option is to use an old DV camera as a "pass though". You put s-video in and out comes Firewire in DV format. If you can get a cheap DV cam they work very well for converters. DV is also the best digital format for standard definition video. It does not use intraframe compression and does not have so many artifacts. But the file sizes are big.

But again, how many tapes? Do you have a couple hundred or just a half dozen?

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No, it also has Thunderbolt port. You can buy a Firewire to TB adapter from Apple and a few others now.