Digitize 8mm cassettes to computer or hard drive

[dwwitz]

I have many 8mm cassette tapes that I need to digitize, My camcorder DCR-TRV480 is operable. What cable do I need to digitize to computer. There are 3 types of connections to choose from. Which is best and where do I find?

[dellsam34]

S-Video is the best output to capture from using a USB capture device, If your camcorder is not equipped with S-Video your second best option is iLink and capture to lossy DV, you will have to have a firewire card installed on your computer, Lastly the worst option is capture from composite.

[dwwitz]

I do not have a Firewire card on computer.

[dwwitz]

My camcorder has 3 outputs for transferring video or pics. 1: A/V jack 2: iLink interface jack and 3: a mini-USB
The mini-USB apparently is not for video, just pic from what I've read. I think my route is the iLink interface however my computer does not have a card for it. I need something in between.

[Bwaak]

Buy a Firewire expansion card, they are less than $10 on eBay. No reason to ruin your Digital8 recordings with converting to analog, sending it as composite, and converting back to digital.

[pchan]

I do not have a Firewire card on computer.

Make sure you have an empty PCIE slot in your computer. Your can get a firewire card from online store like this one.

https://www.amazon.com/Padarsey-Firewire-Windows-Express-Controller/dp/B08SC477FN/ref=...%2C301&sr=8-11

Once the connection is up, use ScenalyzerLive to transfer your video on tape to computer in DV format. This is a Windows standard format and you don't need to install any codec.

[dellsam34]

Buy a Firewire expansion card, they are less than $10 on eBay. No reason to ruin your Digital8 recordings with converting to analog, sending it as composite, and converting back to digital.

Not sure yet if he has D8 tapes, 8mm cassette could mean anything, The options I laid out are for analog tapes from best to worst, If he has D8 tapes the best option will obviously be firewire.