Sony Handycam with Canon as passthrough?
 

Hello,



I have recently been tasked with digitalising my family’s old home videos. I have been down a few different rabbit holes regarding this topic.



There are two camera.

Canon MV960
Sony Handycam Video8 CCD-TR330E PAL


With the Canon I am of the opinion I can capture these on a desktop PC that has a Firewire port (Which I do have an older desktop at home with this). As for software I read that WinDV is the best thing to use.



The Sony may be a little more complex. I am fortunate that this is what the original tapes were recorded with so any issues with misaligned heads won’t be too much of an issue. From what I gather, I can use the same method to capture the Sony’s 8mm tapes however I will need to pass this through the Canon. To do this ill need the Audio and Visual outports from the Sony to go into the single A/V port on the Canon, then the DV out to Firewire on the PC. I recognise this will not be the most optimal way to digitise but will this work in the first place? Will it be ok enough for home video memory purpose?



What alternative method would I have available? Where I live, it would not be feasible to source a Digital8 camera that easily and for a reasonable price.



Being a mono audio jack and Video8 camera, is there some settings I should be aware of when capturing?

Does the Canon have an A/V input -> DV output passthrough mode? If so, then you can do it. But not all MiniDV camcorders have that feature. On some, the A/V input is only for recording to tape. So you could transfer the analog footage to MiniDV tape and then play the MiniDV tape into the computer via FireWire, but that would double the amount of time needed.