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  #1  
04-01-2022, 02:42 AM
ea1908 ea1908 is offline
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Hi all - first post here. I'm trying to save some footage from my childhood that my parents took as a gift for them. These were recorded on a Sony CCD-FX330 camcorder, which I believe is 8mm Video8 format. I'm using an Elgato Video Capture and tried connecting camcorder directly to it and through VCR. I also read some other posts about "Elcrapo", but I don't think the capture device is the issue.

Trying to make sense of this and would appreciate feedback.

When I first was trying, I had multiple tapes and was playing them back. Audio and video were very choppy. Didn't seem like the quality was actually bad, but it was the gray snow lines traveling up the video and bits and pieces of audio coming in.

Took a break, tried again hours later. Same thing. Until I got to one particular tape (we'll call this Tape A). I was rewinding it, played it back, and it was good! Video wasn't as choppy, but more importantly, audio was consistent. I would say the next 3 tapes I played after were fine too. I was watching playback from a tape that had good audio and video - we'll call this Tape B. However, in the middle of watching Tape B, the camcorder died.

I can't run it off power directly and the battery, which surprisingly holds ~20-30 minutes of charge after 20 years, died.

Charged it and attempted to continue playing Tape B. Back to choppy audio and video. It was here I noticed that it was shifting back and forth between LP and not-LP. During choppy parts, playback showed LP. During normal playback, there was no indicator.

I put Tape A back in and it was a bit choppy, with LP popping up. I rewound the tape back to a part I knew was good and it appeared to slowly get better.

I put Tape B back in and it was nearly flawless playback. No more choppy audio, no LP indicator popping up.

My question is, what do I make of this and how do I "fix" playback enough to be able to record this footage to my computer? I was going to get a new used camcorder anyway because I have to rely on battery for this and finding a replacement battery is basically a third the cost of a different camcorder.

Appreciate the help! I love the fact that this community exists!
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  #2  
04-01-2022, 07:37 AM
dpalomaki dpalomaki is offline
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That Sony CCD-FX330 is a Video8, mono sound, camcorder dating to around 1995.

We presume the recordings were NOT a mix of SP and LP speed. (LP speed recordings may not be reliable on a different machine or even the same machine after years of gradual alignment shifts.)

Sounds like one tape may have a "stronger" signal that the other. What brand tapes are they?
If your player has sat for years unused some components, like capacitors, l may have aged/weakened resulting in reduced ability to read a tape. In some cases being powered up for a while may heal electrolytic caps, but one cannot count on that.

Replacement batteries are generally available but may not be economical.

Try another player, Hi8 if you can find one, to see if that makes a difference.
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04-01-2022, 08:08 AM
RobustReviews RobustReviews is offline
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Sounds like it could well be a head-clog.

There's no conventional control track on Video8, it's frequency-based so if the machine can't phase adjust to the control tones you'll get all sorts of bizarre playback behaviour including tracking issues and I imagine the machine shifting into the wrong speed to hunt for the control frequency.

Whether that's the tapes clogging the head, or a clogged head causing playback issues can't be determined.

I'd just try a quick headclean first, if the heads are full of 'cack' then it's time to determine if it is tape breakdown or 'just' dirty heads.

Could well not be the case, but it's a differential diagnosis. There are a lot of things it 'could' be, but a check for head cleanliness is a nice free place to start. The problems with audio as well as video say there's some issue demuxing here which would point toward poor signal from the tape.
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04-01-2022, 12:20 PM
ea1908 ea1908 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dpalomaki View Post
That Sony CCD-FX330 is a Video8, mono sound, camcorder dating to around 1995.

We presume the recordings were NOT a mix of SP and LP speed. (LP speed recordings may not be reliable on a different machine or even the same machine after years of gradual alignment shifts.)

Sounds like one tape may have a "stronger" signal that the other. What brand tapes are they?
If your player has sat for years unused some components, like capacitors, l may have aged/weakened resulting in reduced ability to read a tape. In some cases being powered up for a while may heal electrolytic caps, but one cannot count on that.

Replacement batteries are generally available but may not be economical.

Try another player, Hi8 if you can find one, to see if that makes a difference.
Yep - 1995 sounds about right. I also do not believe the recordings were a mix. I don't think my parents would have known how to select the recording speed, much less change it on the fly like that.

The tapes are mostly TDK. The "good" tape (Tape A) is TDK. There are a few of them that are Maxell tapes. You are also correct, the CCD-FX330 has sat around for years in unused condition. The last time it had prolonged usage would have been early to mid 2000s. Both the tapes and camcorder have sat in a bedroom closet in Southern California, I'd say pretty well protected from heat and moisture.

I was going to try to go for a Hi8 camcorder since this one won't power long enough for me to pull all the footage I need anyway. Thanks!!






Quote:
Originally Posted by RobustReviews View Post
Sounds like it could well be a head-clog.

There's no conventional control track on Video8, it's frequency-based so if the machine can't phase adjust to the control tones you'll get all sorts of bizarre playback behaviour including tracking issues and I imagine the machine shifting into the wrong speed to hunt for the control frequency.

Whether that's the tapes clogging the head, or a clogged head causing playback issues can't be determined.

I'd just try a quick headclean first, if the heads are full of 'cack' then it's time to determine if it is tape breakdown or 'just' dirty heads.

Could well not be the case, but it's a differential diagnosis. There are a lot of things it 'could' be, but a check for head cleanliness is a nice free place to start. The problems with audio as well as video say there's some issue demuxing here which would point toward poor signal from the tape.
I'm 100% new to this, do you have any go-to guides or resources on cleaning the heads? I assume the easiest way would be to use the a cleaning tape, but after a quick Google search, doesn't seem very economical.

Since I was planning to hunt for a different camcorder already, do you think that would be an okay start, assuming a Hi8 camcorder for example does not have dirty heads? Thank you for your help!!
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  #5  
04-01-2022, 04:47 PM
BW37 BW37 is offline
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List of suggested Hi8 camcorders here

The list is not all inclusive as there are other Sony's both Hi8 and D8 that could work as well. Do check the manual on any that you consider to be sure it has TBC (Hi8 & D8) and that it can play analog tapes (Video8 and Hi8) if a D8 camcorder. Sony still has these manuals available for download.

If you don't have any D8 tapes, a Hi8 camcorder is preferred since they are said to do better on Video8 tapes and have some other potential issues with analog tapes.

Your best bet is usually a complete "kit" with charger, etc. that looks like it's been well cared for. Ideally you can test before you buy, but that's not often possible.

BW
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04-02-2022, 06:45 AM
dpalomaki dpalomaki is offline
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Testing before you buy is essential.

Do it with unimportant tapes in case the machine wants to eat a tape. Batteries from the Video8/Hi8 era are likely about shot in terms of runtime so check that the unit can be powered from its AC adapter.

Also, some camcorder makes/models may have suffered from the failing capacitor syndrome. That typically is apparent in a poor image output. Check in camera mode for output before you insert a tape.

Sometimes you can find them in thrift shops or yard sales where you can do a test.
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04-02-2022, 12:31 PM
NJRoadfan NJRoadfan is offline
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A mid-90s Sony HandyCam is likely going to have leaking surface mount capacitors. I wouldn't trust any of them to work without repairs at this point. The late-90s/early-00s models seem to be holding up. I haven't had a problem with early 90s vintage TDK or Maxell tapes in terms of head clogging, only Sony. Can't rule it out though.
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