Older camcorder with timbase correction on video pass-through

[seank123]

Looking for an inexpensive was you add a timebase corrector between a few VHS tapes and my PC - a few people have mentioned using a camcorder with a TBC and I was wopndering if anyone could recomend an older PAL model that I may be able to pick up cheaper off Ebay (only got a few tapes that need to be captured so I don't want to spend a fortune!) - not bothered if it has anaolg or Firewire output or what recording format it is.

Cheers for your help!

[saggitarius]

I currently use a Canon ZR700 which is a MiniDV camcorder that has analog to digital passthrough, which means I can use the mini 3.5 AV cable (which is normally used to output the tapes to a analog connected TV) hooked up to any analog source (VHS, 8mm camcorder) and then via firewire and a free program called WinDV I capture the footage onto my PC.

WARNING: have LOTS of free hard drive space on your system, this program captures uncompresed AVI files, 1 hour of footage takes 12Gigs of Hard Drive!

This setup has worked for me to get rid of the flagging issue that I was getting on some of my older VHS tapes I was capturing. This type of hookup, however, will not remove MacroVision protection that is present on some commercial (studio) VHS tapes. For that, other methods are required, such as a PROPER TBC or other A/V hardware.

Unfortunately, this is a NTSC solution, perhaps there is a PAL equivalent you could investigate on the Canon UK site?

[seank123]

Cheers for the reply - thats pretty much what I need it for - a few old tapes - no macrovision involved - I'll have a look at the Canons.