This is a long, ongoing process but I've decided to write about it as I know there are others in the same boat as I.

Back in 1994 we bought a camcorder. We chose a Sony Handycam for all the right reasons and loved it for years. It only used 8mm cassette tapes - which are different than Hi8 and definitely different than the VHS-C tapes that *most* camcorders used. The VHS-C tapes were the little cassettes you could literally 'pop into' an adapter VHS tape and play or record on your tv and vcr. The 8mm tapes are different in that they can only (yes... ONLY be played back through the camcorder. ) There is no adapter for 8mm cassette tapes to be easily transferred to a VCR tape. If you are told there is the person is either just misinformed, confusing VHS-C tapes or is outright lying and trying to sell you something.

Knowing this background you'll appreciate the fact that when we moved to our current home in 2004 we found the camcorder no longer worked. It powers up just fine and the viewfinder worked but it would absolutely not accept a cassette tape. Any cassette tape. It will hum and close and pretend to like it but then it pops it right back out and refuses to play or record or even function if there is a tape in it.

I found this out when I was attempting to hook it up to transfer the last 3 or 4 tapes we made in 2000 - 2001 to VHS so I could then transfer everything to disc. At this point we were now left with 10 years of home movies completely useless to us, trapped inside cassettes.

At this point I looked at my options which included

1. sending my cassettes to someone on the internet that could transfer for them for me
2. hiring a company locally to do the transfers (Walmart does them!)
3. Buying a new camcorder
4. Finding someone that owns the equiptment and either borrowing or having them transfer for me

I absolutely did not trust sending the only tapes I have of my children's childhoods through the mail and the cost of online services was astronomical. I tried to find a friend or co-worker than still owned a working, similar camcorder but our circle of friends came up short in that department. I gave all the tapes to a very good friend who thought he had the equipment to do so but found it was not compatible and after about 5 months of holding my tapes hostage finally got them back to me. I decided in the end to use Walmart. Their prices were going to run me about $300 to do my casettes but I talked myself into it as the end result would be worth it. Memories are priceless.

As I sifted through the cassette tapes I realized I had movies that included the birth of my children and just couldn't bring myself to allow perfect strangers to see this important, life changing event in my life. Frankly I don't trust the people working in these positions and knowing such a personal moment could be viewed by potentially millions of people (depending on what they do with captured images and video and where they post it...) I just was saddened by my choices. (Yes I know they probably don't CARE about the birth stories or video's of some anonymous woman... but I care.)

In the end I've decided to *attempt* to transfer them myself. The initial investment included buying a used camcorder, which I've now done and hopefully will be receiving the package in the mail this week.

I will then have to purchase an adapter to plug the camcorder in to attach it to my computer and hopefully burn my memories onto a DVD. It will be a learning process for me but my investment thus far is rather small - just a fraction of what transferring them through a company would be.

I'll let you know how this goes.