Hello to all.
My father owns a sony hdr-sc5e camcorder and he has been asking me to help him create video dvd's from the mini dv tapes that he has been archiving a long time now (most of these tapes where recorded with an older sony mini dv handycam but with similar characteristics). I don't wannna mess him with a pc so i've been searching for some kind of equipment that could do this whole process. I searched for several info about the sony vrd series but i ended up really confussed with all the formats and compatibilities and still can't figure out if the hdr-hc5 is compatible at all.
So the question is simple...Is there anything that i could point to my father that could convert the mini dv tapes to dvd's (playable on common dvd players) without big loss of quality, either using the handycam or not, without the need of a computer?
thanks a lot!

Here's some food for thought...
You might be able to transfer the HDV to a rented DVD cam via firewire if you set the output to DV.
Buy/rent a DVD standalone recorder that has a firewire input. Here, you could do the same as above.
You're on a computer now...maybe you could just cap his HDV=>DV and simply burn to a DVD with freeware.

What about revers minidv to a pc without using the camcorder.
Is he any item that can read the minidv tapes and can be connected to the pc to reverse them on the pc ?
thank you

ok so i suppose it can't get as simple as connecting the camcorder to a device that will output a dvd...i have to give it a thought and find the simplest way so that my father will be able to do it on his own or i will end up spending hours and hdd space on my pc...and it's boring.maybe i'll ask him for money!whatever.
thanks busker53.I'll give a try to your suggestion. A standalone recorder with a firewire input could do the recording directly from the camcorder?
what should i check on a dvd recorder or a dvd cam so that i will know that it will be compatible and able to do the process??