ntsc tapes pass through pal camcorder into mac for ntsc playing?

[tozier9]

Is this possible? I have 13 ntsc vhs tapes, roomate has a pal camcorder and I want to pass them through it into my mac for final cut pro. Then burn to dvd for playback on ntsc.

Thanks

[edDV]

Is this possible? I have 13 ntsc vhs tapes, roomate has a pal camcorder and I want to pass them through it into my mac for final cut pro. Then burn to dvd for playback on ntsc.

Thanks

Why haven't you tried it?

We don't know any details about this camcorder.

It isn't likely.

[jagabo]

In all likelihood the PAL camcorder will not sync to the NTSC signal.

[tozier9]

I live in Big Sky and we don't have any electronics stores, I would have to order a firewire to try it.

The camcorder is a DCR-PC55E Pal.

My room mate said he has hooked it up to a few tv's in the states and it played fine.

[JohnnyMalaria]

I live in Big Sky and we don't have any electronics stores, I would have to order a firewire to try it.

The camcorder is a DCR-PC55E Pal.

My room mate said he has hooked it up to a few tv's in the states and it played fine.

It is highly unlikely that a consumer level Sony would be able to encode PAL and NTSC to DV via the analog inputs. Indeed, most camcorders sold in the EU have the DV IN feature disabled and cannot encode anything.

Some PAL Sony's can play NTSC tapes and vice versa though in a rather bastardized way (the TV needs to support pseudo PAL/NTSC. Many do not send the DV via FireWire. Conversely some can play the different format and send the DV via FireWire yet not output a signal via the analog route.

It's all a bit of a crapshoot, really. Best thing is to suck it and see!

[edDV]

Good news is that camcorder captures and passes PAL analog. Bad news is you need a PAL capable TV to watch it.
http://www.world-import.com/dcrpc55e.htm


Buy the cable (about $6) online and try it. You will still need the cable later when you ask around for an NTSC DV/Digital8 cam.