I have been assembling my thrift store workflow for several months now, and while its not optimal per recommendations, I believe its good enough for my needs. I have several VCRs, a DMR-ES15, and an Athlon 64 PC with an AIW 9800 SE.
Currently I am debating between a JVC HR-S4600U and a Toshiba M-65. My noob analysis is that the JVC has the best picture/color quality, however the Toshiba has a more stable image with less noise amplification, so the Toshiba is a better choice for the mediocre home movies I am capturing. Does that sound right? Or can the JVC capture be made to look better in post? I have included several unfiltered MP4s (
HuffYUV AVI -> X264 MP4s for post size) for reference.
Also included are a Toshiba M-785 (disappointing per its specs, bluescreens on errors), and a Sharp A573 (crappy picture quality but great tracking
), will likely get rid of these.
Edit: The JVC has had as many processing options as possible turned off.
