Virtually all of my work with Hi8 (the big brother of 8mm) has been with a Sony camcorder. And all of them have had A/V input through the cable that also outputs the A/V signal. By the way, this is not always true of Digital8 camcorders. Only specific models of the digital camcorders can use analogue A/V inputs. But you can always check it out by going to Sony support and entering the model number (including the letters in front of the dash.) Other manufacturers also maintain specs & manuals on their support sites, but I’ve run into several that don’t have the data for older models archived.
And as an aside, I recommend that if you are going the eBay route and you prefer the analogue recording format, then you should consider getting a Hi8 camcorder over an 8mm camcorder for two reasons. Hi8 records a higher quality video signal (although your video source will determine the quality of the video signal.) And more importantly, Hi8 camcorders are generally newer than regular 8mm camcorders. When you are talking about the remaining life in a given machine, newer used models will likely last longer than older used models. And 8mm analogue recordings will playback just fine on any Hi8 machine.
And finally, I purchased a really fine condition Sony Hi8 camcorder on eBay and it has worked flawlessly. But do make sure the listing states it is in good working order & been tested recently. I purchased one (at a low cost) that didn’t state it had been tested and once I got it I discovered it had been immersed in water and the electronics were useless.
Good luck with locating a replacement deck.
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