#1  
08-02-2017, 06:50 PM
jbro87 jbro87 is offline
Free Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2017
Posts: 3
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Hi I'm hoping to find a little guidance from someone who knows more about this camera and converting. I recently acquired an RCA CKC-021, it's meant to record to a VCR unit but I have the power adapter that also gives it the RCA plugs out. I'm thinking of running it into a A/D coverter and into some sort of capture device. Am I crazy? What would I need to get and what kind of results could I expect? Will I be able to get 16:9 out of this? tia
Reply With Quote
Someday, 12:01 PM
admin's Avatar
Ads / Sponsors
 
Join Date: ∞
Posts: 42
Thanks: ∞
Thanked 42 Times in 42 Posts
  #2  
08-03-2017, 03:15 AM
sanlyn sanlyn is offline
Premium Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: N. Carolina and NY, USA
Posts: 3,648
Thanked 1,307 Times in 982 Posts
If the camera could record to a VCR back in the 1980's, then it has the same kind of output signal that could record to a newer DVD recorder or to a capture card and a PC. USB capture cards optimized for capture from analog signals (ATi 600, Diamond VC500) are cheap enough these days, I'm surprised you haven't tried it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by jbro87 View Post
Will I be able to get 16:9 out of this?
I doubt it. 16:9 wasn't around when that camera was made, and no 1980s VCR could record a 16:9 signal except as a letterboxed 4:3 image. Hook the camera to a TV or DVD recorder using the camera's composite output and see what happens.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
08-03-2017, 03:29 AM
jbro87 jbro87 is offline
Free Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2017
Posts: 3
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Thanks for the reply. I don't have a tv or dvd recorder to test with and I haven't used any capture cards because I have never needed one before! One of my cameras has failed and I cannot afford to replace it, the RCA just made its way to me and as far as I can tell has never been used so I was hoping I could use it to fill in but it seems as though it's not going to work
Reply With Quote
  #4  
08-10-2017, 06:15 PM
lordsmurf's Avatar
lordsmurf lordsmurf is offline
Site Staff | Video
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 13,503
Thanked 2,448 Times in 2,080 Posts
Q: Are you crazy?
A: Yes.

Why do this? Cameras like that are 100% useless. The quality of both recording and playback is terrible. Unless you're a film student wanting to learn stuff "the old way" (or maybe the professor is punishing you?), I'd stay far away from that mess.

I'd honestly be surprised if it did anything other than eat tapes.

The lubes on gear this old often makes it also smell funny. (Like funny enough that you could sniff it and get high! )

No, no 16x9.

- Did my advice help you? Then become a Premium Member and support this site.
- For sale in the marketplace: TBCs, workflows, capture cards, VCRs
Reply With Quote
  #5  
08-10-2017, 06:38 PM
jbro87 jbro87 is offline
Free Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2017
Posts: 3
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
It doesn't have gears or use tapes, it outputs straight to rca.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
08-13-2017, 05:20 AM
dpalomaki dpalomaki is offline
Free Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: VA
Posts: 1,694
Thanked 369 Times in 325 Posts
RCA CKC-021 - believe I had one for a while in the mid 1980s. As I recall it was paired with a portable (battery powered) RCA VTR (VKP-900) that had, would you believe, a stereo linear track (but no Hi-Fi audio). It included a docking station for the VTR that provide a tuner section and battery charger. The VTR powered the camera - no need for the separate power supply unit. The setup worked OK, but the image it produced was I thought rather soft, even for VHS of that time (in retrospect it might have been a poorly adjusted backfocus on the camera). The camera and VCR kit sold new for about $1500 in 1985.

As noted in earlier posts, the camera was 4x3 aspect ratio (essentially a 486i image), as was all NTSC TV back then. The easiest way to get a 16x9 image out of it would be to crop about 60 lines each from the top and bottom of the image and then scale that to fill a wide screen. Not a very satisfying picture. You could attached an anamorphic adapter to the lens, if you could find one that will mount on the camera, but they cost real money.
http://www.vintagelensesforvideo.com...orphic-lenses/.

Given how cheap basic HD camcorders are today, or even used Mini-DV camcorders, hardly worth what it would cost in time, effort, and additional gear to make this relic usable, except as a labor of love for old gear. More modern gear does much better in poor light, is much more portable as well, and stores in a digital format for easy transfer to a computer.

If you really want to digitize the video output from the camera, any SD analog video capture card/device that works with your computer and software will probably work. Other threads discuss capture cards in depth. But test the output from the camera first (maybe connect the camera to a friends TV set - it is portable) to be sure you actually have a video output signal worth capturing.

Last edited by dpalomaki; 08-13-2017 at 06:16 AM.
Reply With Quote
Reply




Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Good vintage camera for shooting analog video? robinhood666 Videography: Cameras, TVs and Players 11 02-06-2020 01:04 AM
Analog capture to digital has bad results! vbendezu Capture, Record, Transfer 10 10-11-2015 09:16 AM
The best analog cassette-tape format? Dead Christmas General Discussion 6 09-18-2015 08:39 AM
Are TBC (Time-Base Corrector) digital or analog? Dead Christmas Videography: Cameras, TVs and Players 6 09-13-2015 06:46 PM
Myth: Comparisons of Analog and Digital Video Resolution tomswift Tech Myths, Misinformation 39 06-19-2013 07:10 PM

Thread Tools



 
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 02:14 PM