Moth3r said:

No, although the tapes look similar Betacam SP and Betamax are completely different formats.

I would look into getting a Betacam SP tape deck off eBay, and a capture card that can capture an analogue component input.

I'm not worried about the capture card. I capture everything through my hauppauge at this point since I really don't burn DVD's any more.

I'm more concerned about the outputs. Most of the ones I've seen on ebay have XLR outputs for audio and I never saw Component Video outputs...but I could be wrong.

Moth3r said:

Yes the deck will probably use professional connectors - XLR for audio and BNC for component video. You'll have to use adapters, but it shouldn't be a problem.

Can the Hauppauge take a component input? If not, s-video would be a second choice.

Yup. It captures HD so you have to be able to accept component.

A simple BNC to RCA cable will work from a Betacam Deck to your capture card.

Capture via component for best results.

poita said:

A simple BNC to RCA cable will work from a Betacam Deck to your capture card.

Capture via component for best results.

At this point, I don't know what to do. I don't know if it's worth buying a deck and capturing myself...or bringing it somewhere to have it transferred.

BetaCAM SP decks are still expensive, and many are junk as they have been thrashed to death.

You would be better off taking it somewhere to have transferred I would think, if you know anyone at a small television station you could probably get it done on the side for a case of beer or similar.

I know no one at a TV station, unfortunately. I just bought 5 or 6 tapes and that would be a long time to record.

I looked into having it transferred and it's $50 a tape which I'm NOT spending. :(

I'm still looking into Ebay options. Looks like I'll be spending $300-400 on it. I'm fine with that because I still have the hope that I'll find others, which will also be on Betacam-SP. But I'll also have this hunk of machine sitting in my living room....along with my laserdisc player :)

Just be careful, many Betacam SP players heads are pretty much destroyed from use. Get any seller to send you a quick video of a tape playing in their unit before you pay.

Got this up and running last night! SCORE! So excited to be archiving something else!

Now the question is where to find more of these. Any ideas? :( Other than Ebay, I'm at a loss.

Which player did you end up getting?

There are collector forums.

poita said:

There are collector forums.

Where?

This is the one I got: http://www.ebay.com/itm/261108678852
Works perfectly for me.

So I'm bringing up this thread again because I got some more Betacam SP tapes but they're smaller and they only have a "window" on the lefthand side. They're all original interviews for Attack of the Clones. Anyone know the differences between types of Betacam SP tapes?

Wikipedia claims that all decks should be able to play the small tapes. Also see the photo.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betacam

drngr said:

Wikipedia claims that all decks should be able to play the small tapes. Also see the photo.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betacam

Hmm...I haven't tried it but that doesn't make much sense.

Most of the ones I have are the Betacam SP L but the Clones ones I got were Betacam SP S.

They fit into the center portion of the slot.