I'm unclear about the analog "pass through" to convert VHS to DV

[JediPM]

I have been trying to research this for a little over an hour now. I can't seem to understand what I'm doing wrong. I have a Canon ZR500 DV Cam, and a Sony RDR-VX555 Video/DVD recorder. I tried to follow the instructions for hooking this up to transfer old VHS tapes onto a DV tape.

Where I am lost from the start is the Firewire connection from my DVD recorder is input only. So I tried to use the component cables coming from the video out of the DVD recorder into the camera. I changed the functions to what I thought was the pass through, but I never saw the picture from the VHS tape come through. I have no problem putting these images on a DV tape first as the DVD recorder and the iMAC are a considerable distance away from each other.

If someone could just explain (or show) what connections go where, I think it would help out a lot. I just want to get back to putting clips on you tube. I was using a PC and capturing the video with an ADS capture device and then using Ulead Video Studio 9, now I want to be able to do the same thing with my iMAC and final cut pro express.

Any help/advice is greatly appreciated .

Thanks
Mark

[guns1inger]

To begin with, you can only do this if your camera supports analogue video in. You will have to use the same cable as you use for analogue video output, which is usually composite video and stereo audio only. Some cameras also support s-video in/out. Also, you usually have to enable video in using the camera menus.

The normal connection path would be from the composite video and stereo audio outputs of your VCR to the camera's analogue video port using the camera's video cable. You would then connect the DV cable from the camera to the DVD Recorder or PC. You would then put the camera in VCR mode, and start the VCR tape playing. The images and audio should appear on both the camera's display, and be passed through to the other end of the DV cable.

From what little good information I can find on this aging camera, it does not support s-video, only composite, so I am unsure how you are connecting your component cables to it. If you are plugging them into the cable that came with the camera then you are wasting your time, as two of those are purely for audio.

I also could not find anything to suggest this camera supports analogue video input, in which case it will not be able to do pass-through.

However, if it does, why not connect it directly to the iMac and skip the DVD Recorder ?

Edit :

Found a copy of the manual online here : http://media.onecall.com/Image_Products/Canon/ZR500_man.pdf as shown in the extract (below) this camera does not support analogue video input, and cannot be used for pass-through.

[JediPM]

Thanks that's what I thought, it was driving me crazy. It's cool. I am going to get an analog to DV converter tomorrow at Fry's.

Thanks again.

Mark