Can I transfer Video 8 to Hi8/Digital?

Question

I was transfering all my old 8 mm cassettes filmed on predigital Sony camcorders to Hi8/Digital, but my Sony TRV120 started playing the tapes back all jerky, or with lots of noise and lines. The small amount of research I did made me think it would be cheaper to buy a camera from eBay rather than send mine in to get fixed, so I did so. But this camera (a Sony TRV 260) doesn't seem to read these older tapes at all, although it does fine with the Hi8 tapes. Did I just buy the wrong camera? I thought Sony's would read all these formats. Any ideas for a cheap solution of how to transfer my 8mm cassettes to computer?
Thanks for the help.

Answer 1

Hi Nancy - you were nearly on the right track, but......read this:
"This model is NOT backward compatible with old analogue Hi8 tapes. So, if you have some old footage from your old analogue camcorder that you want to dump into the computer, this is NOT the camera for you. I was told by the store that it would play them, but it doesn't. And Sony also agreed that it does not. That feature is not available until the 460. " Comment from an unhappy customer.
So you will have to sell your 260 and get the up-graded model - OR borrow someone else's (after all, once you have done your transferring you would be MUCH better off having a mini-DV camera (one that plays tape, NOT a DVD model!). A friendly camera store may be able to help, or even a camera club - is there one in your area?
Sorry that there isn't a cheaper and simpler solution!