ClimaxDigital VCAP810 VHS & Camcorder to DVD USB Video Capture Kit for MAC OSX and Windows

I bought a VCAP810 VHS & Camcorder to DVD USB Video Capture Kit with a medium view on outcome (having read mixed reviews on various devices on the market)...but was pleasantly surprised. It came with a twin audio and video split cable plus a scart converter and was very easy to set up. The video capture software was pretty easy to set up and use and had all of the import settings I needed. The process for initiating a recording wasn't very intuitive and is a little tricky because you have to select Record from a dropdown menu but it doesn't start to record until you select a file name and click a secondary button. This mean you have to start the recording running before pressing play on the VHS player. Not a huge problem, you just have to get used to it.I assumed that the default frame size would be correct and recorded a few videos using it, but it wasn't until I recorded a video with text images that I noticed it was compressing the image. I think the default is PAL (720 x 576) and my videos are PAL, but they looked better at 720 x 486 (NTSC), which is odd. There's a custom setting so this is easy to fix. Just check the first few videos you record for the correct screen size before ploughing on.The quality was good and the biggest problem I had was with my VHS player - the first must have had a worn play head but I rustled up a better quality unit which improved the recording quality no end. This would be my main tip. Don't just assume it's the converted cable and capture software that at fault if you get poor quality recordings. Check the player. Most people will have a player that's been sitting around in the loft, unused for years. It could be worn or dusty or just a cheap player. I took both of mine apart and gave them a good hoover (a camera brush and little pipe attached to the hoover) before use and I also played and rewinded a few tapes before the first recording just to dislodge any crap from the play head.All in all, a great product that delivered great results. FYI, I was using a MacBook Pro running OS 10.12.8 High Sierra with a i7 quad core processor at 2.9GHz.

I got this because I intended borrowing a Hi8 player to transfer my old tapes to my new Mac. There's no other way I could think of doing it with that kit. However that didn't work out and eventually a colleague lent me his Digital 8 camcorder which covers digital and analogue in/out and has Time Base correction to boot.I'm waiting for an adaptor to join my mini dv to Firewire 400 cable to a Firewire 800 to Thunderbolt adaptor (the compatibility problems never seem to end).In the meantime I've been using the analogue outputs on the camcorder and this digitiser into the USB port on my iMac and it has been very reliable. The only problem has been that I managed to disable audio recording in the Videoglide software and it took me a while to work out how to get it back. I had to disable audio support in Tools/ Audio Toggle However I think that is just a complication of making the device work across a range of equipment.

Does not capture or save uncompressed AVI files. The software provided has no option for AVI capture or saving files as AVI.Software also kept crashing despite a clean istall with no errors or warnings. I contacted Climax Digital who didn't specifically address the crashing issue but simply suggested installing 'free' third party software - Debut Video Capture - to get AVI option.The Debut software does indeed support AVI (and didn't crash) but video still appears slightly compressed if not as much and could not get any audio. Speakers were on and composite device line-in enabled with levels turned up and all other audio functioning as normal :/The biggest annoyance is that this 'free' (unlicensed) version of Debut only allows five minutes recording at a time! I have to buy the full version at around £30 (a special offer) to record for longer. NCH Software (who supply Debut) have not responded to enquiry over audio issue which I wanted to resolve before buying full version. However, had no reply. It seems you have to purchase full version to get any technical support questions answered and pay extra for this too. Unfortunately the VCAP800 does not work with Virtual Dub, which is FREE.Climax Digital did offer refund but I would of course have to pay the return postage. I decided to keep product for low-key transfers but the hunt is still on for a better quality solution at an affordable price.There appears to be a major gap in market here. The choice is either very low cost video capture products offering questionable tranfers or high-end solutions costing hundreds.

As I said in the title, it is an excellent product to get. I personally bought this Item so I could record let's plays for YouTube. I can't go into anything above 320p however due to component cables not being able to carry a resolution much higher than that, and my Mac not being fast enough to record anything higher without 'ghosting'. I have a Macbook Pro from Mid 2009 with Lion installed and the program "iGrabber Capture" was extremely easy to install with no problems and works quite well with it. There are some slight issues when it comes to recording, such as the recording ending less than a second after it starting. But that has only happened a few times. And it has once failed to record after 3 minutes into a let's play without warning making me lose some progress there. But other than that it's really quite useful. There are many changeable settings for video and audio recording and output and is certainly very user friendly. I am not a technologist myself but it's user interface is really quite easy to use.