Well, I'm not surprised (though a bit disgusted) the store reps don't know and would make the blanket statement denying the existence of the feature at all. That said, more and more companies are removing the "analog to digital pass through" feature from their products, so I suppose their ignorance is somewhat forgiveable.
Sony was the - or one of the - first companies to have it and you can find it on the DCR-HC96, though it requires a special dock. From camcorderinfo.com:
| Analog-to-Digital Pass Through - The Sony DCR-HC96 is capable of analog to digital pass-through thanks to the not-so-handy HandyCam Station, which allows the camcorder to connect to a variety of ports not included on the camcorder body which include an AV composite, USB, and FireWire. This station connects to the DCR-HC96 via a port located on the bottom of the camcorder body. This is something that Panasonic yanked off of their consumer MiniDV cams. If converting old footage is a priority for you, you can right off Panasonic and take a closer look at the HC46. |
Also looks like that last sentence is a typo; it should probably read HC96. It doesn't appear the HC46 has the pass through feature.
This will get you pointed in the right direction. If there's a camcorder that interests you, find the review for it on camcorderinfo.com and look for the "pass through" feature. I would start by looking at Canon and Sony mid-price models, $500 and up, though there might be an entry level model that has it too. Of course you can also buy a model made in years when the feature was found on most all cameras.
