Does iMovie import video from a SONY hi8 camera faster than the actual replay time?

A Sony Hi8 camcorder cannot directly be connected to a Mac, as it is an analog device.

Did you mean a Sony Digital8 camcorder?

Or have you connected your Hi8 camcorder to an analog to digital converter?

If it is a Digital8 camcorder or a Hi8 camcorder( with analog to digital converter) then in both cases the tape has to run at normal play back speed , so yes a 2 hour recording will take 2 hours to import into iMovie.

So there is no misunderstanding can you tell me the model number of your camcorder.?

The reason I ask is because Hi8 tapes can be used in both Hi8 and Digital8 camcorders.

I am reluctant to advise on any analog to digital converters as it has become more difficult in recent years to import from these devices, with recent OSs and recent hardware. It works for some but not all. Why this is so is not clear.

Even importing from mini DV cams, which is already digital, can be troublesome.

Canopus models ADVC 55 and 110 were popular for analog to digital conversion, but new Macs need 2 additional adaptors as well as the FireWire cable to connect cam' to Mac, and still no guarantee that it would work.

The thing that these Canopus models have in common with mini DV tape is that they output in .dv format, and worked perfectly on older Macs/OS.

Do you by any chance have access to an older Mac with a FireWire port with an older OS and older iMovie ?

Do you have access to a mini DV camcorder? These can sometimes, depending on model, be used in passthrough mode to convert analog to digital, and then import into your Mac with QuickTime Player, as it may not import into iMovie.

There are many other types of analog to digital converters that you can Google to see what people think of them.

Rich highlighted one for someone last week but I can't remember the details. I think it was a USB connection to Mac rather than FireWire so no need for the expensive adaptors.

In the following link I describe the cables required for connecting FireWire to Mac for a Digital8 camcorder, so you can see that it can work for some. In this link the OP describes as having a Hi8 camcorder but it was in fact a Digital8 cam'. He was using Hi8 tapes which is perfectly OK , but got confused.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251604387

and here is the link where Rich mentioned an ELGATO analog to digital converter.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251641407

Hi, thesurreyfriends,

The analog video to digital converter that I had mentioned last week is the Elgato.

https://www.amazon.com/Elgato-Video-Capture-Digitize-iPad/dp/B0029U2YSA

It has a USB2 connection to the Mac. So unless that will work in the OP's USB3 socket some adapters would be required.

The Elgato is an older device that was used a lot in the year 2007 era, I think. However, it still seems to be fairly popular and gets good reviews on Amazon. Some posters on this forum have reported success with it. I've never used it so can't personally vouch. The OP will need to check it out for himself. There are a lot of You Tube videos that show how to connect up the Elgato. Also, there are lots of other more recently made analogue to digital devices available, that can be found by internet search. Some are reviewed on You Tube.

I've got some VHS and Sony Beta tapes to convert, so am interested in this topic.

-- Rich

Hi Rich

Yes you are correct. If using USB2 ( which is type A connector) the OP would need an adapter to USBc.

Fortunately these can be obtained at a reasonable price. They will only work at USB2 speeds of course if using USB2 .

I did some analogue Hi8 to digital conversion some years ago now using a friend's Sony mini DV cam in passthrough mode

I used iMovie ver 9 with OS Snow Leopard on a 2009 Mac with FireWire 800 port.

The results were very good, no drop-outs and all in sync. Pity that things seem to have become more flaky .

Not sure what the secret is but some do manage to import DV into new Macs without problems.

Hi, Odannymac0,

I'll defer to others who have actually imported with a Sony hi8 camcorder. I have not done so. However, I believe that the import probably will be at actual replay time.

-- Rich

Thats fine.

Come back here when you are ready or want any clarification.