D8 to MiniDV

[coeng73]

I'm considering purchasing a Sony DCR-HC42 to replace my Sony TRV315 [D8] that is 6 years old.

1) Can I connect the firewire between the two cams and transfer all of my footage losslessly to miniDV? Is it as simple as pressing RECORD on new cam followed by pressing PLAY on old cam?

2) How do I completely erase the D8 tapes after I'm done with step 1. Only thing I can think of is making a project in Premiere consist of 60 min of "black" video w/ no audio and then exporting to each tape. Only reason I want to erase is that I have 30+ tapes of only-used-once tapes that I might Ebay rather than throw away.

[Richard_G]

1) might work, you'll have to try it and see. If it doesn't, use WinDV to transfer the D8 footage to pc and then use WinDV again to output it back out to miniDV.

2) you could do that or just put the camcorder on record with the lens cap on. If your TRV315 has a socket for an external mic, put a plug with nothing attached to it in the socket to disable the internal mic.

Personally, I've kept my D8 camcorder and just keep the tapes. It also means I can cope with both formats (as well as very old analogue Video8 and Hi8 tapes) if anyone else has stuff on tape they want transferring or burning to DVD.

[coeng73]

I just thought of something...are D8 and MiniDV the same resolution? Will there be a compatability issue?

[mstone321]

D8 and miniDV are the same. Same resolution, same data rate. You can think of D8 as a miniDV on a different tape...

[OSU]

It should work both ways. I just got done with a long project of doing just the opposite (MiniDV shot on a Panasonic GS500 to 8MM tapes on a Sony DCR-TRV120 for storage reasons). As long as you have the right cable you can do this with very little effort.

[edDV]

So far all MiniDV and D8 camcorders have direct copied back and forth. I once had trouble dubbing a JVC consumer model to Sony but that was probably just my error. To save time I controlled it from the computer to dub rather than reading the manual.

I routinely use my two D8 camcorders to back up DV format projects. I have a huge stock of Hi8 tapes that I can use for this purpose. In the past Hi8 blank stock was much less expensive vs. MiniDV but this is no longer true.

The only disadvantage to using 8mm tape for backup is you need to maintain D8 players. They are plentiful and cheap now.

[bobkart]

Only reason I want to erase is that I have 30+ tapes of only-used-once tapes that I might Ebay rather than throw away.

They make bulk tape erasers (degaussers) that will do the job more quickly than recording over them, at a price of course:

http://www.markertek.com/SearchProduct.asp?item=PF%2D215&off=5&sort=prod