how to transfer 8mm camcorder video to digital on my computer?

[HBARleatherneck]

Hello, I need your expertise once again.

Situation: I have Sony Handycam video Hi8 camera 8mm. I want to transfer to digital. How?
It has the svideo port. will this cable work
http://www.amazon.com/EasyCAP-DC60-Creator-Capture-High-quality/dp/B002H3BSCM
EasyCAP DC60 - USB 2.0 Audio/video Creator Capture High-quality Analog Video

then what software do I use to actually record it? i have stuff on the computer, will one of the normal windows media devices do it? I am trying to get some family videos transfered. I will keep the originals in the vault, but it would be nice to watch them, without scrolling through 120 minutes of video each time. thanks

[mutt]

That will work. I used something similar to transfer all my old home videos from vhs-c. It will probably come with rudimentary software for capturing your video as an mpeg2 stream. To edit/modify you can use your software of choice. I recommend keeping your original capture as a 'golden' master and only edit copies. Each successive edit/encode is lossy and will lose detail vs the original capture.

[Hoosier]

The amazon reviews on it aren't very good, 86 people gave it 1 star, I would rather spend more money and get a product that works well/is easier to use.

This one does well in the reviews, but I've never used either of them:

http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-SVID2USB2-Video-Capture-Cable/dp/B000O5RIWO/ref=sr_1_72?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1291947679&sr=1-72

You can also try googling around based on the model number, when you have a few items you want an opinion on. Good luck!

H.

[HBARleatherneck]

it looks like i need to find a Digital 8mm camcorder. the things i have read now, say the best quality is obtained by putting my standard 8mm tape into a digital 8mm camcorder and hooking it up to the computer via firewire or usb. so now to find a friend who has one, or a cheap one to buy on the internet. thanks for the ideas.

[Dr_Fwd]

I think there were some people providing this service (converting into digital) on craigslist, I have no idea how much they charging for it but it might be cheaper than buying a new camera, cables etc

[mutt]

This is the unit I used: http://www.amazon.com/EZgrabber2-Capture-Uploading-Conversion-Gameplay/dp/B0036UUST4/ref=cm_cr_pr_sims_i

Honesty I don't think it matters which one you buy. I think all of these usb capture devices are the same unit with different shells.

Using a digital 8mm would work, but it's going to be an much more expensive option if you have to buy one. And quality is a relative term here. If I remember right, the best 8mm format could muster 480 lines of resolution. If you recorded with the 'extended play' formats, that quickly fell to 200 or so lines. Spending a lot of dollars to get best quality may not be worth it. Just get your memories off a slowly decaying tape =)