Importng MiniDV tapes

[watson101]

I have more than 500 MiniDV tapes that need to be imported into my computer for storing/archiving on external hard drives but I do not want to use my Sony pro-consumer video camera to do this because of the tape head wear and tear.

Can anyone recommend reasonably proved SONY MiniDV tape camera that I could purchase and maintain the quality of the image during the import. A lot of the tapes are HDV grade.

Or, is there another machine I could purchase to do this for around $400 or less?

 

[kenrivers]

There is a used Sony HDR-HC1 on Amazon for $400.00. It is an HDV camcorder (I have two of them) and it should work for what you want to do. There are MiniDV players out there such as the Sony HVR-M10 and SONY HVR-M10U.