VCR recording my camcorder footage in black and white

[Warp.speed.films]

I create videos from raves using a Sony handycam
TRV208E and have done for about a year. To digitalise my footage, I dub the camera footage onto a VHS tape using a VCR then dub that onto CD ect. At the weekend I got my biggest project yet filming a huge event in Antwerp, and of course my process that's worked for over a year has decided to stop working I haven't changed anything at all but everytime I dub the footage onto a tape, it comes out black and white. Really pulling my hair out on this one so would really appreciate some help. These are the things l've tried so far: -changed the VHS tape to a brand new one -checked and changed the s-video cable, AV cable, and SCART adapter -1 have plugged the camera into my tv using the same cables I plug it into the VCR and it plays is full colour -I have tried a new VCR -I have tried a different input into the VCR using a HDMI converter and that came out in colour
-I've checked all the settings on camera and both VCRs and they all are set to PAL
Please please please could someone help me here as l have a deadline for this and feel like l've tried absolutely everything Thanks

[dellsam34]

Why would you dub to a VCR? Can't you just digitize the original camcorder tape into hard drive?

[Warp.speed.films]

I used to use one but with my style of videos I like to ff/rewind through the footage to get some cool transitions ect. And when I was using a digital converter to do this, it would loose signal and just show a blue screen whenever it would start ff/rewinding.
Do you know a way I could put it straight onto a hard drive and still record these bits ?

[Sharc]

You can't ff, rewind etc. during the capture process. It will always fail. You may capture and digitize the full tape as is and then do edits and cool transitions etc. offline using an NLE (or avisynth or similar.).

[Warp.speed.films]

Okay thanks
I’d rather keep doing it the way I do it to keep everything genuine and authentic with the VHS aesthetic…obviously if I can get the process working again
I tried all the different cables and connections I have at home last night with still no luck however I have brand new ones coming later on today which is the last thing left to try so which me luck !

[hech54]

If the VHS tape is from "overseas", it's probably a NTSC/PAL issue.
NTSC tapes are viewable in color, but quite difficult to capture in color.

[dellsam34]

I used to use one but with my style of videos I like to ff/rewind through the footage to get some cool transitions ect. And when I was using a digital converter to do this, it would loose signal and just show a blue screen whenever it would start ff/rewinding.
Do you know a way I could put it straight onto a hard drive and still record these bits ?

I don't know exactly how you were doing it but you can get better results by doing one of the following:
1- Do the fast ff and rw directly from the camcorder and capture directly from it and hopefully the capture device does not choke on the garbled signal.
2- Adding a TBC inline can help capture the fast ff and rw as it keeps the signal synchronized, You can get a Panasonic DVD recorder in your video format, connect it to your VCR and from the DVD recorder output to the capture device. in NTSC land ES10 and ES15 are the most popular, not sure about PAL.
3- If all fails, try fast ff and rw directly from the camcorder into the DVD recorder and out into the capture device without VCR.