JVC DR-M100 or HR-DVS3 - best option for tape to DVD transfer?
 

Hi there

Quick query on two JVC dvd recorders I'm interested in buying; wondered if you'd advise pros and cons?

DR-M100 or HR-DVS 3; both close in price currently on ebay.

I have around 50x S-VHS-C and 50x DV tapes, home videos, motor sport, air shows etc, which I plan to start transferring to DVD.

I currently have a Panasonic AG 4700 and JVC HR-S7000 (1996 version) but about to take delivery of JVC HR-S8700. I also have a DR-M150 (which I THINK has the LSi chipset).

I've done some basic tests of tape to DVD burning, Sony DV camcorder iLink direct to DR-M150, results OK.

Wondered if its worth bagging the DR-M100 to add to my 'armory' or go for the convenience of the HR-DVS3 (also with LSi chipset) to dub straight to DVD 'internally'?

Which SONY DV camcorder?

IMO the methods you describe yield inferior quality, even if you believe they're convenient. The results will look worse than the source.

DV isn't recorded, it copied (1:1 transfer) via Firewire to exactly the same DV format as your DV source. Re-recording DV to lossy MPEG is a poor way of doing it. Likewise, combo decks are another low-quality way of capturing VHS to digital formats. And again, capturing VHS via DV camcorders is a double-loss re-encoding from analog to noisy DV to even more noisy MPEG.

The HR-DVS3 is a DV+SVHS deck, so if you're wanting a DVD recorder, then only choice here is the DR-M100. And it's quite excellent for VHS transfer work. In fact, it's the overall best that has ever existed, for this specific purpose.

Yes - my mistake - realise now the HR- DVS3 wasn't a DVDs recorder/combo.

Looking forward to receiving eBay-won JVC products this week - HR-S8700 vcr and the DRM100. I've been doing simple tests transferring footage from my 2 current VCRs to my current DRM150 (recording XP direct to DVD-R).

The DRM150 hasn't noticably reduced the chroma 'smears' inherent in an old motor racing VHS tape (brightly coloured cars, pitlane markings etc). I'll see how the DRM100S gets on to do further comparisons. (I'm playing the 'test' DVD-Rs in a blu ray player to a large plasma, to get the most detailed image to compare.)

-- merged --

The camcorder's a Sony DCRPC110. I have a purely Mac set-up (realise it may not be ideal) but I just want to do very simple transfers to DVD.

I have a very old (unused) Canopus AVC100 or is it possible to digitise my S-VHS-c tapes by connecting the VCR to the camcorder via s-video and RCA and use it as a pass-through to the Mac?

As you can tell I'm slowly finding my way through the analog-digital jungle, now I've realised the analog footage I've accumulated over the years hasn't deteriorated as much as I thought. Appreciate any advice!

If you're NTSC, the Canopus measurably (and visually) lowers quality. With PAL, not so much, so it's a safe method. The Canopus on Mac for PAL isn't a terrible combo. But it's used for actual capture, not passthrough to another recording device.

Hi again; a Datavideo DAC-6 has appeared on an auction site; can you tell me how it compares quality-wise to the Canopus AVC100? (It's starting at £15 with 15 days to run.)