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-   -   Good vintage camera for shooting analog video? (https://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/home-video/8016-good-vintage-camera.html)

robinhood666 05-22-2017 07:54 AM

Good vintage camera for shooting analog video?
 
Hello guys,
I would like to buy good vintage camera, what it need to have:
- old looking lens, like 90's,
- recorder on tapes video8 or hi8
- easy way to copy a movie to a computer
- stablilization
- good sound quality

Could you recommend me something? I saw some Sony Handycams in internet but there is a lot of models and I don't have idea with one I should choose.

themaster1 05-22-2017 02:57 PM

i'm no expert in cams but forget analog try DV or HDV cams

lordsmurf 05-22-2017 03:04 PM

If you shoot vintage analog, I'd suggest only doing Hi8.

Next choice is DV -- though I don't consider digital to be "vintage".

When getting Hi8, be sure to get a cam with TBC. You won't find much in the way of stabilization, as that's largely a post-analog feature.

All cameras have crap sound quality. It's mono (even "stereo" since it's single directional).

Of all the analog formats, Hi8 tends to be the most enjoyable. You need an external TBC, but that's it. Be sure to check it for good alignment, and you ideally want to capture immediately after shooting -- just in case alignment is off, and failing over time.

NJRoadfan 05-22-2017 06:29 PM

Consider a low end Sony Handycam Digital-8 camcorder. Many of them had the same 1/6" CCD that their later Hi-8 camcorders had so you still get that "low end" look but without the hassle of analog. All HandyCams from that era had SteadyShot image stabilization.

The following units are usually cheap since they lack analog playback capability (many people buy D8 units to transfer analog 8mm to digital formats).

-Sony DCR-TRV250
-Sony DCR-TRV260
-Sony DCR-TRV265
-Sony DCR-TRV280

robinhood666 05-23-2017 06:57 AM

hmm, thank you guys for answers,
I am not sure about Digital 8, for me it does not have vintage look at all.

I would like to have something like this
https://youtu.be/P2T4s0B6z-A?t=14m23s
it is look really vintage and cool for me.
This record is from camcorder CCD TR-640E is from 1998 I think, it is almost what I need, there is a cool night mode, but there is no lcd screen :/ which I need.

What do you think guys?
If I buy camcorder video8 or hi8 there will be a many problems with copy records to computer and other things? There is big difference between Video8 and Hi8? Hmmm I don't know...

lordsmurf 05-23-2017 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by robinhood666 (Post 49483)
I would like to have something like this https://youtu.be/P2T4s0B6z-A?t=14m23s
What do you think guys?
If I buy camcorder video8 or hi8 there will be a many problems with copy records to computer and other things?
There is big difference between Video8 and Hi8?

Video8 tends to be more misaligned than Hi8.

FYI, that Youtube uploader's analog footage looks terrible. It's worse than Hi8/Video8, or even VHS. He's ingested/captured it with problem/cheap hardware from the looks of it (blown-out values: color, IRE, contrast, brightness), and deinterlaced it. Analog video never looked that bad, and there's nothing "vintage" about it. It's just garbage work.

Hi8 capture is no worse than anything else analog, and can be better. Again, you'll need an external TBC, else it will many drop frames. The internal camera TBC (if exists) does nothing for that aspect.

robinhood666 06-01-2017 01:11 AM

ok thank you,
so I have the last questions:
which old sony handycam camcorder have a external mic output? is it possible to connect mic to one of them ?
i understand that I need camcorder with built TBC, and I need also external TBC ?

I found this https://www.amazon.com/Sony-CCD-TRV6.../dp/B00CDY1ZBY what do you think about i? is it works well ?

msgohan 06-01-2017 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by robinhood666 (Post 49483)
I am not sure about Digital 8, for me it does not have vintage look at all.

It sounds like you define vintage look as meaning crappy consumer tape with very low color resolution. Is that correct?

Because there are beautiful pro cameras that I think can be had for relatively cheap which hooked up to Betacam recorders.

robinhood666 06-01-2017 09:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by msgohan (Post 49586)
It sounds like you define vintage look as meaning crappy consumer tape with very low color resolution. Is that correct?

Because there are beautiful pro cameras that I think can be had for relatively cheap which hooked up to Betacam recorders.

Yes man, that's what I think.
Could you tell me more about Betacam recorders? How I can do it ?

msgohan 06-01-2017 08:20 PM

It's just an analog pro formats from the same period as the consumer tape formats. Mostly used for Electronic News Gathering.

http://vi.raptor.ebaydesc.com/ws/eBa...=1496366309194

dpalomaki 06-30-2017 06:07 PM

The Canon L2 was an excellent Hi8 camcorder. It offered several interchangeable lenses (including one with optical stabilization), RCTC (time code), LANC protocol for editing, external stereo mic, 1/2" sensor (better than most Hi8 in poor light and better DOF control), and manual controls. The down side is it may suffer from the SMD capacitor problems of the mid 1990s. I believe you can find them on ebay, but the IS lens may be hard to find.

You could shoot in HD and apply filters in post to get the vintage effects.

lostraxx 02-06-2020 01:04 AM

Agree with dpalomaki but one step further
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by dpalomaki (Post 49983)
The Canon L2 was an excellent Hi8 camcorder. It offered several interchangeable lenses (including one with optical stabilization), RCTC (time code), LANC protocol for editing, external stereo mic, 1/2" sensor (better than most Hi8 in poor light and better DOF control), and manual controls. The down side is it may suffer from the SMD capacitor problems of the mid 1990s. I believe you can find them on ebay, but the IS lens may be hard to find.

You could shoot in HD and apply filters in post to get the vintage effects.

-----
I just dusted off my Sony DVR-TCV103 and digitized 50 tapes from up to 25 years ago. I decided to keep it out and play with it and asked the question, "Can I record directly to my computer?" The answer is yes, as long as a tape is loaded. I can connect my digital out to my computer via a Thunderbolt adapter, open up my editing app, iMovie, and click import and start shooting, completely bypassing the need to digitize tapes in the future.

So move up to first gen Digital8 like my DVR-TCV103, record directly to a digital recorder or your computer and add digital effects post production to get the crappy effects you are looking for like dpalomaki suggested, and save a huge amount of time over an analog solution. Good luck.


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