Comments

Catwell wrote on 2/7/2006, 4:15 PM
JVC makes a Combo MiniDV & S-VHS machine with Firewire. I have an older model HR-DVS3U. I have compatability problems with miniDV tapes, but for transfer of VHS and S-VHS it works fine.

However., with the Canopus converters you can use any analog deck and the 300 model includes noise reduction and some color correction.
JJKizak wrote on 2/7/2006, 4:46 PM
And for 8mm, Hi-8, and Digital 8 Sony has some nice small ones with firewire for around $500.00.
JJK
dibbkd wrote on 2/7/2006, 5:26 PM
I believe a Dazzle-type solution would do the trick for you too. It basically has RCA to USB connections, that should work for any existing VCR, and it's less than $100 from Best Buy.

Here's one for $80

Dazzle Digital Video Creator 90

S-video, composite video and stereo RCA audio inputs
AVI, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, NTSC, RealVideo 8, Windows Media output

Edit: Don't forget to burn the Pinnacle software that comes with it..

Chienworks wrote on 2/7/2006, 5:32 PM
Dazzle is well known for poor quality and troublesome captures. It's cheap, and you get what you pay for, or in this case less than you pay for.
farss wrote on 2/7/2006, 8:17 PM
Simplest answer unless you need both NTSC and PAL capbility, buy a D8 camera, they're very cheap these days. That gives you A to D and D to A so you can use any VHS deck and you can capture 8mm, Hi8 and D8 tapes. They include DNR and a TBC, not as convenient as say the ADVC 300 but I got by with one for a long time. Should find them pretty cheap on eBay these days as it seems Sony is killing off the format. Bad Sony, very bad :(
By all accounts the JVC MiniDV / VHS combos lived upto JVC reputation for reliability
ScottW wrote on 2/7/2006, 9:53 PM
Agreed. JVC is crap- stay far away from it. I still use the deck I have but only to capture VHS via my Canopus ADVC 300 - the firewire interface drops frames like mad.