D8 records the exact same signal as that going to the miniDV tape. Only the physical medium is different. The D8 runs the 8mm tape at 2x the usual 8mm speed, so a 120 minute tape will run for 60 minutes. One can transfer DV video between D8 and miniDV without any degradation, since the format is identical. If you get a great price, go for it!

Pros: cheaper camera, slightly cheaper media, backwards compatibility with 8mm analog tape collections

Cons: somewhat lower quality for optics and transport (targeted at a lower price point), much bulkier cameras, could be obsolete before demise of miniDV format, single-vendor supplier (Sony)

Riredale stole my thunder! Great answer!
I would also add that a Digital8 camera can also be used as a pass-through Analog-to-Digital converter. Using the camera you can take any analog source such as VHS, Hi8, or 8mm and convert it to Digital through the camera and out to your computer.
Some users actually find the somewhat larger("bulkier")size/weight of the Digital8 cameras to be an advantage, not a disadvantage.

Mark

The digital 8 format offers cheaper media costs, (you can shoot digital on regular cheapo 8mm tapes), and is arguably a more robust and probably longer lasting format, because of its physically larger size. A digital 8 camcorder makes more sense for a yound person than a mini DV, and the quality differences mentioned by one poster probably only really apply to the high end mini DV machines. The low end DV cameras dont look any better, to my eye, than their digital 8 cousins.

As mentioned if one has a collection of 8mm and/or Hi-8 the Digital 8 is a great way to go. I love my Dig 8, cheaper media costs and you can find Hi-8 tape everywhere. I do feel a little envy though when I see the guy on the plane pull the miniDV out of his pocket.

I have digital 8 and love it. I like the pass through in fact a lot of time you can pick up a used one with bad heads for almost nothing and it works great as a pass through (both ways) Most people sadly still want thier final product on VHS so Digital 8 is going to give them as good a picture as a dv out to analog will. Hitachi I believe also makes a Digital 8. Sony has a long history of supporting thier products for example they just announced they were going to drop support for the Betamax after how many years? The Digital 8 is a very comfortable size to hold and I personally think that in those instances where you are forced to hand hold the bit of extra weight helps steady the camera. They are less expensive and if you are buying it for your son probably a good choice depending on his age.

Hi,

Only problem is that you will not be able to find a 3CCD D8 camera if your son wants eventually a better image quality: Sony doesn't do any.

What a great group!

Thanx for input - glad to confirm that Digi 8 same as DV.
Plus glad to hear that there are people liking the D8 format.
We bought it. Smiles from son... and wallet.
v.

What nice parents you are! When I was a teen I got grounded for what seemed like forever for swiping my Dad's 8mm.....................Of course I did take it to some sand dunes where I was taping me and my friends setting off some home made "Works" bombs ( Works brand toilet cleaner, alluminum foil and a two liter bottle) Where the camera got blasted with sand and had to be sent off to repair!!






I guess maybe my parents had a pretty good reason ;)

One other thing everyone forgot to mention is that the Digital 8 only has 1 audio option while the MiniDV has 2 audio opetions so you can go back and add in a new audio track or narration if you want to, this is why MiniDV is better than Digital 8

For a first camera, Digital 8 is a great option. I got mine 4 years ago and beat the crap out of it during shoots and it still works like new. I shot a whole documentary on it that was on PBS this past february. I love my digi 8, BUT, i moved up and recently got a Panasonic ag-dvx100; this camera isnt a toy, its for business purposes. Anyway, getting off topic here; Sony's Digital 8 cameras are a great start for a beginner to learn the large world of videography.

Brian
www.influx-media.com

I've been taping shows with my D8 camcorder. I bought D8 because it was cheaper, plain and simple. But it turns out that it's perfect for me. This is because other tapers have been lending me their masters, allowing me to do multicam vids of shows. Turns out most of them use Hi8 or 8MM, and my D8 camcorder will convert them to DV as I capture them to disk. Very, very cool.

Next camcorder will be MiniDV because you can get better lenses, bigger CCDs, etc. But I'll keep my D8 which has been so useful for the reasons mentioned above.

-Jeremy

I shoot with MiniDV cameras but I make backup copies of my finished edits on a D8 camera I keep for just that purpose. I feel that the larger D8 format is more robust than MiniDV. I've never seen a dropout from D8 tape, even on a test/"junk" tape I've re-recorded over many times (probably more than 20 times by now).

Forgot to mention, if you need the digital pass-through feature, (DV/A, A/DV conversion), don't get either the Sony TRV 130 or 140 entry level machines. Both these models lack the ability to do these conversions, and also the ability to transcode 8mm and hi-8 to DV. The original TRV 120 entry level model, can perform both of these functions, however. Sony cut these items from their features list when they moved the series upwards. So much for progress..

Anyone have any experience with the TRV103 Digital8? Perhaps my cam is bottom of the bottom - it's down there, LOL. I can pass through from computer through firewire to any destination recorder I want to connect to either the Svideo or composite jacks, but, going the other way, I have always to record the analog source to Digi8 tape - seems that when the firewire cable is plugged in, the analog jacks will not fucntion as inputs (this cam uses the same analog jacks for both input and output).

Am I doing something wrong here?

Just curious.

Thanks.

Caruso

The TRV103 Digital8 camcorder does not have an analog > DV pass-thru feature. You will have to continue capturing your analog tapes to D8 tape and then capture the D8 tape via Firewire into the computer.

John

keep an eye on ebay for a trv 120 figure out how much it costs to pass through other ways. On the 130 and 140 are you sure you can't pass through? Did you change your camera on the menu? You have to change the setting on the 120 to go one way and change it back to go the other way.

keep an eye on ebay for a trv 120 figure out how much it costs to pass through other ways. On the 130 and 140 are you sure you can't pass through? Did you change your camera on the menu? You have to change the setting on the 120 to go one way and change it back to go the other way.

Hi C,

You might try starting record mode on the D8, then plug-in the firewire cable and capture... it works on some handycams (TRV110).


HTH, MPH

Unless they changed them part way into the series, the TRV 130 +140 do not have the switchable A/D in-out functionality, the 120 did. Caruso, there is a way to make your camcorder function the way you want, but you have to build a little device that plugs into the camcorders LANC connector, and run a piece of software. I used to do this w/my old TRV310, which lacked pass-thru, and it worked fine. I'd have to dig out the links if you're interested. The device is simply a serial port connector, a LANC cable, and a cheap transistor. The parts shouldn't cost more the $10.00, but you do have to solder a few connections..

Jboy, I would be interested in the plans for the LanC connector fix. Thanks. I have the same camera and it works like Caruso describes. I can go from computer to VCR in passthrough, but not from VCR to computer.

Dave T2

Digital 8 shoppers in Europe should know that import restrictions mean that the analogue video inputs are crippled (at least that's my understanding). Something about keeping the device from being a camera and video recorder at the same time.

I only stumbled upon this when I was shopping for my D8 in the U.S., and found some web pages about hacking Sonys in Europe to get around this...

G

Here's a link to a page that describes the process, and shows the plan for the gizmo.Apparently you can use any number of different inexpensive transistors, but be forewarned I burnt out thr transistor in the first gadget I build by using an unshielded soldering iron. When I built the second one, I soldedred the LANC wires to the port connector, but just twisted the transistor leads around the appropriate pins.What you do is plug the device into your computer and camcorder, then run a piece of software called ANin, if I recalled correctly, and it enables A/D passthrough. You can also enable other functionality hidden in the bowels of your camera, like Zebra metering and manual white balance, but this is more complicated..have fun.

http://lea.hamradio.si/%7Es51kq/DV-IN.HTM

http://www4.tpgi.com.au/markjt/D8-stills.html