What’s the best analog/DV converter? That is, within a reasonable price range $100-300

The ADVC110 - Canopus Analog/DV Converter seems very popular…

Was also looking at Pinicale System ‘Movie Box’ version 9… Is this inferior to the Canopus unit?

I will be using it to transfer old VHS tapes to digital for editing. Also -- looking for a firewire or USB device...

Thanks in advance!

I tried one of these last year and it seemed to do a good job. As a bonus, it has component video in/out which none of the other cheap ones had the last time I looked:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=363177&is=REG&addedTroughType=search

Of course, to convert VHS you don't really need a whole lot of quality or component video :-) Most of the better camcorders can also do transcoding like this as well. Look for menu options for A/V DV out.

Hi There,
I've been doing a lot of research for the exact same purpose. Here is what I found:

*If you have a dv camera with "Pass through mode" or "VTR" mode, you can connect your VCR to the camcorder, and it will digitize it and let you capture on your computer

*If you are using Premier Pro, I highly recommend the Matrox RT.x10 HW PCI card. With this card you not only get high quality analog capture, but it is primarily a hardware renderer. That means all your transitions, color corrections, etc. are all done instantly rather than by the software. You can check it out here: www.matrox.com.
At 399.00, it's a little more expensive than a capture box, but you get so much more.
I am actually going to be ordering this card for myself within the next week or so.

*The Canopus seems to get favorable reviews over other units. It's nice because it's made out of metal. However, you might not need everything this unit has. This unit is Bi-directional which means that it will go Analog to Digital AND Digital to Analog. If you have no reason for going back to Analog, you might be interested in the Canopus ADVC-55. It's very similar but has a couple less features - one of them being Bi-directional I/O.

*Finally, you also might want to check out Miglia Technologies Directors Cut Take 2. It's also made of metal and has some really cool features that the Canopus units don't have. One of the nicest things about it is that all of the connections are in the back so you don't have a lot of cable clutter.

All right. I hope this information helps you in your decision.
-Daniel Rheaume

*Your best chance of a good capture is using s-video or component. It's unlikely that your VCR is going to have component, but if it is of higher quality it should have S-Video.

Boyd, Daniel --

Thanks for the feedback and diffreent options. My camera (XL1) doesn't have the converter option -- that's why I need to go with an outside unit.

I think I'm going to go with one of the Canopus converters. Although --

Does anyone know if the converters are better in Canopus vs. Pinicale (the above mentioned models)?

Anyone?

Thanks!

I remember working with an XL1 that *could* do the conversion... you also didn't need to record onto miniDV tape to do the conversion. I can't remember if it was the XL1s, although the original XL1 should be able to do this.

I still use my trusty Pinnacle DC10+. :-) Almost any of the capture cards will work well for VHS transfer. I have converted a LOT of VHS. You'll usually get the best results capturing at a resolution that most closely matches the resolution of the video source; the DVD resolution known as Half D1 (352x480 for NTSC) usually works best for long programs and/or video with a lot of motion.

Glenn ,the XL1S will do digital to analog but not analog to digital as a loop thru.(Have to record to tape to accomplish this).I believe the XL1 does neither as a loop thru.
James I've been using the ADVC100 and it works great.

What’s the best analog/DV converter? That is, within a reasonable price range $100-300

The ADVC110 - Canopus Analog/DV Converter seems very popular…

Was also looking at Pinicale System ‘Movie Box’ version 9… Is this inferior to the Canopus unit?

I will be using it to transfer old VHS tapes to digital for editing. Also -- looking for a firewire or USB device...

Thanks in advance!

James I have the ADVC110 and it does peachy. I actually use it to run my video out of my firewire/vegas to my TV as well. So it does another purpose that I didn't originally get it for.

You can find a used ADVC-100 on eBay at a very reasonable price. The only difference between the 100 and the 110 is that the 110 doesn't need a AC adaptor.

Randy

Hi, there, I'm investigating these things also.

Standard VCR's don't come with s-video connections. Some have said the quality of the transfer is better if you use an Svideo connection.

Is the difference significant enough that it will be worth buying another VCR for?

I used a Canopus ADVC-300 to bring some 8mm tapes into a digital format. The box came with some pretty nice tools to adjust the imagery to get the best capture. I was pleased enough I remember trying to delay returning the device to the department I borrowed it from hoping they would forget they loaned it to me. They didn't, it was just as popular with that work unit as it was with me.