Video capture device recommendations please

Lenina

please can someone recommend a decent quality video capture device for windows? i would prefer an external rather than internal one as my laptop is faster than my desktop. my budget is up to around £150 gbp. i realise there are cheaper devices around £20 but my concerns include dropped frames, audio being in sync (eg elgato , over-exposure effects, and other video quality issues. i am not particularly concerned about the editing software that might come with it - i just want to capture footage with the least loss in quality.  also it seems that some devices use usb2.0 not usb 3, eg avermedia ezmaker 7, - is this a problem as i would have thought that usb 2.0 is too slow.

thanks for any help.

MarkE19

What source are you capturing from? A miniDV/HDV camcorder would be best with a firewire capture device, but that is useless for old analogue capture from the likes of a Hi8 camcorder.

Mark.

Lenina

sorry i didnt say - its an analogue camcorder that uses vhs-c cassettes. (i also have miniDV tapes but i think i can plug that camcorder straight into a pc via usb.)

MarkE19

Easiest route would be to use a DVD recorder, but an expensive way if you don't already own (or can borrow) one.
Other than that there is no reason to buy a good capture device as VHS-C is low quality to start with, so anything that works is good enough IMO. USB2.0 is plenty fast enough for this job so something like this should do the trick - https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Easycap-Capture-Adapter-Windows-64-bit/dp/B004GFSBQK/ref=sr_1_8?keywords=easycap&qid=1562014548&s=gateway&sr=8-8

For miniDV capture USB is no good (not even USB3), you need to use firewire. Or at a push you could use the analogue connections to the device above, but you would lose quality going this route.
You cannot add firewire top a laptop unless it has a PCMCIA/ExpressCard slot or a Thunderbolt port, so using the less powerful PC might be your only option. But a PC internal firewire card is cheap and requires no drivers to get working - https://www.amazon.co.uk/TanQY-Firewire-Adapter-Windows-Controller/dp/B07FLM3NJP/ref=asc_df_B07FLM3NJP/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=310773493424&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2735860759958077112&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006522&hvtargid=pla-722908457264&th=1

Mark.

Lenina

hi Mark, thanks very much for your advice.

i had thought of using a dvd recorder but i would then have the problem of copying and converting the recording onto a pc. my concerns about losing quality are that, while vhs-c is already low quality, some of these capture devices will make my recordings worse in other ways: some have been criticised for audio syncing over 30 mins getting progressively worse, some create over-exposure effects, and i'm not sure about dropped frames. so what i'm trying to find is one that doesnt do these things.

for miniDV capture i had thought it ok to use usb because the manual says to. i have a firewire input, but no firewire output on the camcorder. the outputs that the camcorder has are: usb, DV and AV (which i think is analogue). how would i use firewire, or is the DV connector a viable option, assuming i can find a DV input?

many thanks.

MarkE19

DV is firewire as far as the camcorder port is concerned. Firewire is known by a host of different names including iLink (Sony) or ieee1394
The camcorder most likely has a 4 pin plug and the PC could be either 6 pin or 4 pin (or both), but if only the one port then 6 pin is most likely.
IEEE 1394 - Wikipedia
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

As suggested if you have access to a DVD recorder then this should be the best route to go for getting your analogue footage onto disc. You can then just pop the disc into the PC's drive and copy the contents of the VIDEO_TS folder to the PC for editing. As this is a homemade disc there will be no copy protection to cause issues.
If you do want to go the PC capture route then the USB device I linked to previously is about as good as it gets. However USB does have some overhead on PC performance so to help prevent dropped frames I would suggest doing a clean boot and stopping all background apps that are not required.

Mark.

noiseboy72

Firewire on most PCs running Windows 7,8 or 10 is hit and miss at best. Most of the external type cards simply will not work correctly and laptops with built in connections are rare as rocking horse poop.

Pinnacle Dazzle would be a good choice. As old as the hills and very reliable. Well supported, good audio sync and not too much load on the processor. £49 at the moment.