I'd like to capture footage etc from cable TV and old home movies from VHS.

I've successfully captured before but i'm not sure if i'm using a much higher bitrate then neccessary,the footage i'm capturing isn't very good compared to that of a DVD but if I go too low the original poor image will be emphasized and look worse than the original.

I'm using a Sony Handycam with its pass-through capability between a VCR/cable TV decoder and the PC via fierwire cable.

What is the best codec to use and how many MB per second (bitrate) should I use and what image size? most footage is full 4:3 screen but some is 19:9 i'm not sure what the actuall sizes are but they must be compatible with an eventual DVD copy.
I'm in a PAL country.
I have many codecs to choose from but which is the best?

I have Ulead MediaStudio Pro 6.5, Ulead VideoStudio 6, Adobe Premiere 6.5 and Windows Movie Maker.

Hope you can help,thanks in advance.