[sachin_cs]

Dear members, I’m sure, at one point of time specially in the early 2000s, you all would have come across the then hot gadget called Handy-cam. I used to own a SONY DCR-HC28E, we bought it just before our Kashmir trip. It was talk of the town and probably one the best gadgets I got as a kid.



I have my entire childhood captured in this recorder when internet, mobile cameras, youtube etc. were not a thing back then in a small tier-2 town. We have so many memories captured like my sister’s marriage, my nieces childhood, our weekend trips to Kanha with mom & dad and so on. This recorder would make use of a small magnetic tape based cassette called Mini DV which looks something like this-



I have close to 90 such Mini DVs with me and I probably have done daily vlogging when such a thing was an alien to me, I used to record almost everything in my society like our hide and seek games, our neighbours, festivals, my diy projects, my most priced possession - A Hero Street Racer bicycle .

Now the problem is- the Handycam is not in a working condition and it’s been approx. 6 years I haven’t touched it yet. Earlier, to have access to my videos, I would connect my handycam to our TV and watch those Mini DVs. And also, we got some very important footage like my sister’s wedding converted to digital formats. Now, I want to convert all those Mini DVs to digital format so that I can access them in my modern devices. I have been scanning the internet for the same but of no help. Challenges are listed below-

1. Methods mentioned in the internet requires a working camcorder, which I don’t have.

2. Send it to some professional and I enquired here in Raipur and the cost of converting one DV is so exorbitant that it doesn’t make financial sense to convert all the footage, it’s equivalent to the cost of a new camcorder

3. A Mini Dv tape converter/player device is available but again it needs a working camcorder-



With that, I feel like I have hit a road block. I want to understand if there’s a way out where in I can get a device, which will directly connect with my computer and convert the videos. It’s a request to the members to please pour in your valuable suggestions, ideas to help me out of this situation. I really want to relive those moments with the recordings I did (with my ultra professional shooting skills) when image stabilisation was unheard of. I distinctly remember that among my family members, I used to shoot most shaky videos and everyone would hate when I had the camera in my hand .

[GTO]

Originally Posted by sachin_cs

Methods mentioned in the internet requires a working camcorder, which I don’t have.

Why don't you buy a used Sony Camcorder from OLX? Get your work done & sell it again.

Second option: Look at nearby towns / cities where you can get a cheaper rate from other professionals.

Pro Tip: Only convert what you will actually be watching. Years ago, I got our family pictures professionally scanned. Was very, very firm that only A+ pictures & A-grade special moments will be scanned. No mediocre pictures or moments that would be boring. Ended up doing about 950. All of them are a pleasure to see.

Better to have 950 pictures that are fun instead of a folder with 5000 images of mediocrity you'll never open.

[sachin_cs]

Originally Posted by GTO

Why don't you buy a used Sony Camcorder from OLX? Get your work done & sell it again.

Second option: Look at nearby towns / cities where you can get a cheaper rate from other professionals.

Pro Tip: Only convert what you will actually be watching.

Thank you so much Rush, I never thought about getting a used camcorder and then reselling it. Let me search for one and also evaluate the second option. Much appreciated brother.