Sony DCR-TRV103 to computer. Is this possible?

jogle

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I have a Sony DCR-TRV103 camcorder. I want to do some online selling, using video from the camcorder. I don't see a USB connection (did I overlook it?). Is there a way for me get my movies onto eBay, YouTube, etc?

The only connectors I see on the camcorder are for connecting to a TV. Many thanks in advance for any help you can offer.
 
Solution
Probably not, it's an old camera. You could get a capture card and then have to playback the video at regular speed and capture it from the TV out of the camcorder to your PC, but the quaility is going to be meh. I would buy a new camera that has USB or takes SD cards that you can pop into your PC and get the video direct from the camera still in digital form. Even a $60 digital camera with video function and a small tripod from the dollar store would work better than the capture card method.
Probably not, it's an old camera. You could get a capture card and then have to playback the video at regular speed and capture it from the TV out of the camcorder to your PC, but the quaility is going to be meh. I would buy a new camera that has USB or takes SD cards that you can pop into your PC and get the video direct from the camera still in digital form. Even a $60 digital camera with video function and a small tripod from the dollar store would work better than the capture card method.
 
Solution

jogle

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WOW! What a lightning-fast reply. Thanks so much. I think you've saved me a whole bunch of trouble. Can you steer me to some cameras to look at? I'm pretty uninformed about such.

jogle

 
The Sony DCR-TRV103 has a firewire (IEEE 1394) port that is used to transfer video to the computer. Link to manual: http://www.docs.sony.com/release/DCRTRV103.PDF
If you computer has a firewire port then you should be able to easily connect the camera to the computer via a firewire cable (4 pin to 8 pin on a PC or 4 pin to 4 pin if a laptop). If not, a firewire card is not very expensive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815287004). I have a Sony DCR-TRV320.
 

jogle

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jogle

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Didn't check that it had a firewire port, forgot about that, my old Sony has one too. If I remember correctly though, you basically hook up the CAM via firewire, and software like like Movie Maker or whatever can capture it and control the shuttle controls, but it's still a 1:1 playback, as in you have to rewind the tape using the controls, start playing, then record in your software. There is no just copying an "mp4" off the camera like you would with a modern camera.
 

jogle

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jogle

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Thank you getochkn, that's a very useful comment. It might not be too important for me, as I intend to make very short videos. It does sound like a new cam is in order. Guess I should just sell the Sony and move on.

One concern I have is having read about the relatively poor quality of USB. I'll have to try a few and see how it goes, or can you point me to some examples on the net?
 
Most new cameras record to SD cards so, if you have a card reader on your computer, you would not have to connect the camera to the computer via a USB cable. You could remove the SD card from the camcorder, put the card in the card reader and then copy the files to your computer. What price range are you looking at for a new camcorder?
I posted some links to ones under $200 in another thread: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-1733549/camcorder-200.html#11158257
Personally, I have had good experiences using USB to transfer video files but prefer using SD cards and a card reader for the transfer.
 

jogle

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jogle

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Outstanding, Ken Rivers. My computer does have a card slot. Will the card slot accept a micro-sd adapter? I'll research those cam links you provided and many thanks for that.

Loving the Tom's Hardware website.
 


If the card slot supports SD cards then it should support micro-sd adapters. I have a camera that uses micro-sd cards and have never had a problem getting any of my laptops or desktop to recognize the adapter card.