Playback of old video 8 tapes

goinggreynow

goinggreynow

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After months of trying, we've managed to get hold of a camcorder which will play back our old video 8 tapes. However, it is a different make to the one on which the tapes were originally recorded. I am having an issue with some of the tapes which are playing back "too fast" (double speed?).
Could this perhaps be because some of the original recordings were done in long play on the old camcorder (a Sony), whilst the recently acquired machine has no long play function?
Asking this because I do not know how these old machines made long play recordings. Did they simply slow down the motor so that the spindles turned at a lower speed? If yes, this would probably explain my problem.
Thanks for any help
 
Yes the LP mode was just a slower reeling, so sounds like that is your problem.
 
Thanks Colin. So, I'm guessing that on the original recorder when LP was engaged there was some sort of electronic "flag" encoded onto the tape which told the motor/spindle to slow down? if correct, presumably not recognised by another brand of machine.
Do you think a transfer to hard disk then slow down the frame rate in software could/might work?
Thanks
stuart
 
gramps said:
This Option might be useful if all else fails. :)
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Many thanks for the suggestion. Our local camera shop has already converted two of our tapes (before getting hold of the camcorder) but at around £15 per tape, This can worth out quite expensive. Thanks for the thought
 
Fairly sure I've got a Canon Hi8 camcorder boxed in a cupboard somewhere which probably has LP, Will have a look over the next few days.
 
Barrysprout said:
Fairly sure I've got a Canon Hi8 camcorder boxed in a cupboard somewhere which probably has LP, Will have a look over the next few days.
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shotokan101 said:
Yep - no problem I've got an older Sony that does the Hi8 and Digital 8 formats and LP/SP modes - also a USB Capture stick and some cables etc. if you need these as well....

Jim
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Hi Colin & Jim. Very many thanks for these kind offers.
The tapes belong to other family members and other than the two which have been converted by the camera shop, no-one has any real idea what's on them!
I only picked up the camcorder and tapes a couple of days ago and haven't yet been tnrough all the footage (at this odd speed - it's good enough to see what's there), to try and make a decision as to whether there is anything there worth converting, Hopefully I'll do that over the weekend. I haven't even yet been able to confirm that this machine doesn't have a LP mode, but if it did, then I would have expected to see some mention of it on the case.
Would it be OK if I came back to you if we'd like to borrow (hire?) one of the camcorders?
Once again, I am very grateful for the kind offers.
Stuart
 
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goinggreynow said:
Hi Colin & Jim. Very many thanks for these kind offers.
The tapes belong to other family members and other than the two which have been converted by the camera shop, no-one has any real idea what's on them!
I only picked up the camcorder and tapes a couple of days ago and haven't yet been tnrough all the footage (at this odd speed - it's good enough to see what's there), to try and make a decision as to whether there is anything there worth converting, Hopefully I'll do that over the weekend. I haven't even yet been able to confirm that this machine doesn't have a LP mode, but if it did, then I would have expected to see some mention of it on the case.
Would it be OK if I came back to you if we'd like to borrow (hire?) one of the camcorders?
Once again, I am very grateful for the kind offers.
Stuart
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No problem Stuart - just let me know when you've sorted out what you are going to do - either on this thread or drop me a PM - happy to help out with a loan of the equipment.

Jim
 
Hi Jim,
Very sorry that I haven't replied since my last post about a month ago.
We've manged to play the tapes back on the camcorder which we now have and it's a right mish-mash of some footage playing at regular speed and some at high speed (meaning that we filmed in long play on the original Sony). I've catalogued the content, given the tapes and camcorder back to the family member and asked them to let me know if they want me to arrange for any/all of th footage to be converted to disk using a camcorder which recognises LP. That's as far as we've got, I'm afraid. I have to say that most of the footage was not particularly inspiring and the decision may just be to leave as is.
Kind of you to chase me up and if things change, I'll give you a shout.
Thanks
Stuart
shotokan101 said:
Hi Stuart - just thought I'd check in and see how you were getting on :)

Jim
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shotokan101 said:
Yep - no problem I've got an older Sony that does the Hi8 and Digital 8 formats and LP/SP modes - also a USB Capture stick and some cables etc. if you need these as well....

Jim
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Hi Jim what would you recommend to transfer vhs tapes to digital format
Thanks
B
 
sep9001 said:
I bought one of those and they don't work as well as they should.

I then bought a canon mini DV cam with a pass through which I used to transfer all my VHS C tapes. Need to do the same with some old VHS tapes as well but not had a chance to do them yet.
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Odd - never had any real problems transferring my VHS stuff using an EasyCap....
 
shotokan101 said:
Odd - never had any real problems transferring my VHS stuff using an EasyCap....
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Might be the one I bought then, was from a market seller on Amazon.[emoji50]
 
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