Ancient and cheap Ebay purchased (analogue) video camera works, thanks to a power supply, it plays the tapes we want to salvage, and outputs a good signal, but the digitising method needs improving... drastically. Hopefully without having to spend a fortune. What appears in the camera's little eyepiece viewfinder is much higher quality that the blotchy mess shown on the computer screen, that becomes a sequence of stutters after a few minutes, unlike the smooth playback on the camera.

We're part of way there. More research and shopping required.