Video8 Capture . . . huge chunks of video missing.

This is not so much a question as a comment.

My Video8 camera died in the year 2000 so I was not able to view my original tapes any more.

This did not matter much as I had copied most of them to standard VHS cassettes but since getting my first computer in 2002 I realised that I could make copies without the generational loss if only I had another Video8 camera/deck. However, I was not concerned enough to actually spend cash on obsolete technology!

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago when I sent an email to members of my defunct film making club asking if anyone had a Video8 camera surplus to requirements.

To my surprise, an 87 year old member drove some 30 miles to my house and presented me with 2 top of the range Sony Hi8s so at last I was able to copy those tapes.

But things are never that easy! I copied 73 minutes of one tape which contained a brief clip of a cycling proficiency test, 10 minutes of a party, 55 minutes of a holiday and 5 minutes of talking heads.

I was using theHi8 camera feeding my Canon HV20 set to convert AV - DV with a FireWire cable going into my 2012 Mac mini.

The capture app was QT Player and everything seemed to be going well. QT was counting the minutes and seconds it recorded and at the end it showed 73 minutes as expected.

So I saved it but lo and behold the video had shrunk to some 27 minutes . . . the party had disappeared together with large chunks of the holiday video.

One possible cause for dropouts is that I used to leave gaps in the video when shooting or sometimes shoot over existing footage leaving "interference" gaps in the tape with zig-zag black and white signals. However, this did not apply to the 55 minute section of holiday footage and on other occasions QT has happily continued copying over problem areas.

I don't think there is likely to be any cure other than to limit my captures to 15 or 20 minutes to minimise any losses. The missing bits can be captured if I try again.

Although I have mentioned one tape, they are all pretty much the same.

Thank goodness for memory card cameras! No more hanging around for 90 - 100 minutes only to find huge sections missing. I wouldn't mind so much but the quality of the Video8 footage is so appalling . . . I find it hard to believe that we spent good money on such rubbish back in the day.

Anyway if anyone has some magic formula to prevent the above from occurring I would be pleased to hear it.