Video to DVD

[redbears]

Couple of Q's regarding home vid to DVD.

What I am doing
I have a few different videos (home movies) I want to put on DVD. There are three cameras involved, two analog ones (one 8mm, one VHS-C) and a digital DV unit. The digital unit is a Panasonic that has a firewire type of output, but I think the camera is a bit old to be 100% compatible. I don't have the model # to check at the moment.

Thoughts on doing it
I read somewhere that you can use a DV camera with firewire out to act as the conduit for an analog camera to output to the PC. Has anyone tried this?? I can borrow a recent JVC unit (with firewire) a friend has for the task.

Media to use
Is DVD+R still the best format for compatibility on most DVD players?? I am going to distribute the above to a few friends and relatives and their equipment will vary in age and quality and I will need the most compatible DVD type. I have seen TDK +R's at JB for $3.59 ea. Thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

[ChickenMan]

"Is DVD+R still the best format for compatibility on most DVD players?"

Sorry thats dead opposite, DVD-R are more compatable with DVD Players and always has been, particularly on older ones.

You can get Ritek 4x DVD-R (or +R) from any Melboune swap meet for $1.20 and they are better than the TDK IMHO.

CM

[redbears]

Interesting... I was sure it was the other way around. Thanks for the tip, I have a couple of older machines floating around, might do some testing.

With the Ritek, do these have to be bought in a 50+ spindle? or are they available with covers etc?

What about Shintaro media? I think a 10 spindle was under $20 at JB.

[clinto]

I have been looking into this myself for a while.

have alook at this site

http://www.videohelp.com/

heaps of info.

[redbears]

Thanks dude, had a quick look, looks nifty ;)

[ChickenMan]

Interesting... I was sure it was the other way around. Thanks for the tip, I have a couple of older machines floating around, might do some testing.

With the Ritek, do these have to be bought in a 50+ spindle? or are they available with covers etc?

What about Shintaro media? I think a 10 spindle was under $20 at JB.
I've seen the Ritek mostly in spindles of 50 but have also seen 25's & 10's Havent seen them in cases. There is also DataBank DVD-R x4 for 90cents each, they have a GSC002 id signature (made by GiGaStorage) and I find them just as good as the Ritek (reported that GigaStorage is next to and owned by Ritek, but I have no proof of that) and play perfect in my 2 dvd players and all my mates. They burn at 8x perfectly (same as the Riteks do) using the hacked firmware for my Pioneer 107.

Shintaro are made by Princo and are just about at the bottom of my list of prefered media.

CM

[dnas]

I use Infosmart, also from computer swap meets.

They are not really cheap(six months back $100 per spindle of 50), but it's the only media I've tried so far that works on my sister-in-law's Sony DVD player. It seems that Sony DVD players are the least tolerant to writeable DVD media.

[redbears]

I use Infosmart, also from computer swap meets.

They are not really cheap(six months back $100 per spindle of 50), but it's the only media I've tried so far that works on my sister-in-law's Sony DVD player. It seems that Sony DVD players are the least tolerant to writeable DVD media.

What format?? +R or -R