ASK & DISCUSS
INDEXCan anyone convert a range of tapes inc. VHS, Beta and Umatic to digital formats?
9 years, 9 months ago - Raza Mallal
Hi,
We have 1 Sony large DVCAM, 8 Betacam SP and 5 Umatic tapes that we are looking to convert to digital format (either DVD or online). Would anyone be able to do this for us, or lend us a tape deck so we can convert them ourselves? We are based in Leeds and could either post the tapes or would be able to travel a short distance to use the tape deck.
At the moment, we're unable to spare very much for the service...!
Thanks,
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9 years, 8 months ago - Steve Lawson
I'm based in the Midlands and could do most of these formats for you, certainly the VHS, DVCAM and Beta SP. Not sure what "Sony Video Cassettes" means though - what do they look like? You may struggle with the Umatic tapes, that's a pretty rare format these days. £15 per tape. My site is www.creativ-video.co.uk.
Response from 9 years, 8 months ago - Steve Lawson SHOW
9 years, 8 months ago - John Lubran
Good grief Raza! Do you know what your asking for?
So that's five different formats/tape decks you'll need; what do you mean by "lend"; some of them are quite large and heavy and would have cost someone actual money to buy, maintain, house and link to a well set up computer; then they'll all need to be digitised, in real time, and then output to DVD, or probably best, to hard-drive, can't imagine making them all available for you to acquire online. If you don't have 'much to spare' I'd be prepared to travel just about as far as anyone, whose prepared to do all this, is based.
Response from 9 years, 8 months ago - John Lubran SHOW
9 years, 8 months ago - Steve Lawson
I don't have an HDCAM deck or DAT machine I'm afraid.
Response from 9 years, 8 months ago - Steve Lawson SHOW
9 years, 8 months ago - Franz von Habsburg FBKS MSc
Grief! There used to be a chap in Hove who had a museum of old kit which he used to provide such a service. I hope someone can remember him and I'll check out my contacts.
Response from 9 years, 8 months ago - Franz von Habsburg FBKS MSc SHOW
9 years, 8 months ago - Philip Quinton
Paddy - I can capture from HDCAM, DigiBeta and HDCAM SR. Based in London though.
Response from 9 years, 8 months ago - Philip Quinton SHOW
9 years, 8 months ago - Philip Carr
I used a company Busheydvd.co.uk recently for a lot of different formats. Quite reasonable prices. Not sure about the umatic conversion though!
Response from 9 years, 8 months ago - Philip Carr SHOW
9 years, 8 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin
£15/tape - bite Steve's hand off! That's incredibly cheap for a good transcode.
Response from 9 years, 8 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin SHOW
9 years, 8 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin
Hi Philip, I'll PM you
Response from 9 years, 8 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin SHOW
9 years, 8 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin
Oh well, worth asking ;-)
BTW if you do want any old, perfect Beta decks, or an Avid Symphony (SD) with the appropriate breakout box hardware, I'm your man ;-)
Response from 9 years, 8 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin SHOW
9 years, 8 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin
Steve - do you have an HDCAM deck as well? And ideally DAT too? I have a bunch of footage I'd love to recover. I will happily give you a few low-hours beta sp decks in return!
Response from 9 years, 8 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin SHOW