Samsung vp-L870 camcorder won't work on my PC?

Question

Hey Everyone,

I'm trying to play the footage from my samsung vp-L870 camcorder onto my PC, but all that its saying when the video screen comes on is "initilize failed".

Ive installed all the software, connected the USB correctly.

Any advice?

Cheers

Answer 1

The Samsung vp-L870 is a Hi8 tape based camcorder. It is analog tape. It has a memory card - that is what the USB connection is for - transferring stills from the memory card. You will not be able to transfer video from the tape over USB.

The only way - of which I am aware - that you can transfer video from the tape is by getting an "analog/digital bridge" like those from Pinnacle (Dazzle) or Canopus - of if your computer is equipped with a TV card or a video capture card. Conncet the AV cables that came with the camcorder to the camcorder - these are the same cables you would use to connect the camcorder directly to a TV... but you would connect them to the A/D bridge (or capture card). Then connect the A/D bridge to your computer. THEN you can import the analog video and it will be digitized.