Capturing from Sony DCR-PC110

[JakeOMite]

I have dozens and dozens of MiniDV tapes and would like to start capturing them all. I'm excited to do this myself, to relive the old memories and to digitize them for sharing/posting. Doing it myself means I can avoid the huge costs of having a video company do it.

Problem:
My Sony DCR-PC110 camcorder doesn't seem to work with the newer operating systems. I have a Windows 7 and Windows 8 computer to use and per the Sony website there are no drivers that allow my computer to work with my camcorder.


I'm not too terribly techie with regards to the hardware part of video so I'm hoping for an easy to do/understand system for this.


Here are my options: (as I see them. Perhaps there are others...?)
1) Buy a new MiniDV device (camcorder or deck) that will work with the newer Windows and works with MiniDV. I have no clue what to purchase. I've searched eBay and Craigslist but I can't tell if they'll work for my situation. As for new, do they even sell MiniDV stuff anymore? If there were a $200-$300 option I'd buy it today.


2) Buy an older computer, running Windows XP (or whatever OS is the last one supported for my camcorder). I'm not opposed to this, I guess. But where would you find that? (Craigslist or eBay, I guess)


3) Employ some other option (such as a converter) to make my camcorder work with Windows 7 and Windows 8 computer. I've looked around but again I'm not too terribly techie and just don't know.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks,
JakeO

[aedipuss]

you don't need a driver for any miniDV cam. they all use firewire to transfer video and that driver is built into all recent windows. what you need is a firewire port on the computer and a firewire cable.

[JakeOMite]

aedipuss,
Thanks for the reply. I only have USB so the question is, is there a way to convert from firewire to USB? Is there a device or adapter that does this? I haven't seen firewire on computers for ages.



I'll google it now but if you know of a solid solution for this I'd be greatful.


Thanks,
Jake

[Brad]

Can't be done for video sources over Firewire. You need a Firewire input on a computer.