MiniDV - Best way to extract data from tape

[Nitro87]

Hi all

As I've been capturing VHS to AVI with my JVC HR-DVS3.

I have read that the MiniDV element of this deck isn't great - and I do have a JVC GR-D225EK MiniDV camcorder as my disposal, so I will probably use that but I do have a question.

What is the best way to extract the digital data from the drive?

I am using Windows 11, I don't have a FireWire port. I could buy one, but I'm seeing conflicting info online - some say use capture software but this isn't analog, it's digital, so I want to "rip" the tapes.

What is the best practices to do this?

[Aya_Rei]

Hm, since you're using a modern computer. I would say your best bet is buying a firewire 400 cable, along with an Apple Firewire adapter to Thunderbolt & Apple Thunderbolt to Thunderbolt 3 adapter. Using WinDV as the program to playback the MiniDV tapes, transferring them as 1:1 DV .Avi files.

So the daisy chain of adapters would go like so, Camcorder - Firewire cable - Thunderbolt Adapter - Thunderbolt 3 Adapter - PC. If the computer you're using has a thunderbolt 3 port, that is.

Though if you can add a firewire port in. Then maybe it's best to go with that so you can go straight from the Camcorder to your PC using said Firewire port, skipping the daisy chain of the adapters, which I end up using since I do my transferring work on laptops (both a 2020 Lenovo Windows 10 one and a 2013 Dell one running Windows XP)

[Nitro87]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aya_Rei

Hm, since you're using a modern computer. I would say your best bet is buying a firewire 400 cable, along with an Apple Firewire adapter to Thunderbolt & Apple Thunderbolt to Thunderbolt 3 adapter. Using WinDV as the program to playback the MiniDV tapes, transferring them as 1:1 DV .Avi files.

So the daisy chain of adapters would go like so, Camcorder - Firewire cable - Thunderbolt Adapter - Thunderbolt 3 Adapter - PC. If the computer you're using has a thunderbolt 3 port, that is.

Though if you can add a firewire port in. Then maybe it's best to go with that so you can go straight from the Camcorder to your PC using said Firewire port, skipping the daisy chain of the adapters, which I end up using since I do my transferring work on laptops (both a 2020 Lenovo Windows 10 one and a 2013 Dell one running Windows XP)

Thanks! It is a 1:1 copy that I need so that's definitely the way I want to go.

I have a USB-C 20GB port on my PC, but I don't think this is Thunderbolt 3 enabled... so not sure what to do now.

[gunzel]

The Apple Thunderbolt 2 to FireWire 800 adapter has been discontinued and secondhand prices have risen rapidly. You are probably better off picking up a period appropriate computer with FireWire built in and using that to dump the tapes.

[aramkolt]

You can get a firewire PCIe card that will work driverless in most modern tower PC's - some have better luck with VIA vs the TI chipsets though. If you're using a laptop, then the Firewire to thunderbolt works too as long as your computer is thunderbolt capable.

Lots of older laptops in the core2duo era had the smaller firewire ports and I'm sure are available on Facebook for $50 or less in your area. Any MacBook Pro or iMac in the early 2000's also would have a native firewire port and you can just put the files onto a USB drive or flash drive since they don't take up much space.

The DV drive in the DVS3 are known for eating tapes or failing to work (I've got a few of the VS30U which I think is the same model, just with a different case and I'd say about 50% of those drives have been bad in my experience. If yours actually plays the tape, I don't expect you'll get a better actual transfer using a different DV player as long as it doesn't physically eat your tape in the process.

My guess is that those miniDV drives fail because of a single part that needs re-lubrication, but there really aren't any guides out there that I'm aware of that detail what usually fails on those miniDV drives. Would love to hear about how to go about actually fixing one.

[NJRoadfan]

Something to keep in mind, particularly if you have a newer laptop. Intel recently released a NVM firmware update for their Thunderbolt 4 controllers that disables Thunderbolt 1 and 2 device support. This wipes out the ability to use the pair of Apple adapters to use Firewire on a Windows laptop. Apple's own laptops (including Apple Silicon) are unaffected by this.

Now the only viable way to add Firewire connectivity to these machines is to use a Firewire PCIe card in a Thunderbolt expansion chassis. Its pretty bulky over the daisy chaining of dongles. It costs more too, but if the price of Apple's adapters keeps raising on the used market, it'll be a wash.

[Hushpower]

Quote:

Now the only viable way to add Firewire connectivity to these machines is to use a

Or buy a Panasonic MiniDV camcorder (NV-GS series) that will do DV over USB or a Pinnacle 500- or 710-USB to do the same. Or, just do an analogue capture.