Love Letter To JVC KY-210 - Part 2

Part 1: • Love Letter To JVC KY-...
In which I explain the sad fate of the JVC, but also demonstrate a feature or two, and share what footage I have. Look out for more thorough pro camera videos from me in the future. Enjoy!
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[@leonerduk]

Everyone should keep two perfectly good JVC Camcorders in the fridge

[@kaitlyn__L]

That light smearing is so cool. I've loved it for years. Didn't know it was specifically about hysteresis, just knew there was some retention. You see it on older TV shows in scenes lit by candlelight too. Of course in professional environments they try to minimise but sometimes you can only push your set lighting so far without disrupting your atmosphere.

[@craigavonvideo]

It's known as comet-tailing.

[@craigavonvideo]

At 5'10" that's a "times two" lever available on most B4 type lenses. All of the lenses we have here have them (even wide angles). Only cheaper "industrial" lenses do without them. At 8' the gain switch will give you the equivalent of 2 or 4 stops of extra light (at the expense of grain) - the doubler will take away 2 stops of light.

[@HorrorHQ]

I have this video camera too! I bought it at a thrift store for $20 with the hard case. The battery is deader than dead, but after a while, I bought an ac power brick and a 4pin XLR cord. So far it works. Im gonna use your advice and get a RCA adapter and plug this into my VCR to test it out. Thanks for the in-depth video, I didn't know about half the features on this thing!

[@Dong_Harvey]

Did you get it working?

[@HorrorHQ]

@@Dong_Harvey Sadly I got one image and couldnt get it working again. All the rubber pieces were turning to goo so I had to get rid of it.

[@RinoaL]

Ya know, i bet an issue with the prism/image splitting mechanism would cause similar issues to your problems. although i agree its most likely electrical

[@l0renzo_1997]

5 years later and we’re still waiting for the explanation on video tube camera effects Edit: please make a video explaining video tube technology I really wanna know how the light tails happen

[@lurkersmith810]

Reminds me of a Sony DXC-M3 camera we used to shoot with that would occasionally decide to just green shift on us, and we were never quite sure whether it was inside the camera or the cable, because it would always "fix itself" while we were troubleshooting, and we'd get right back to shooting video! Apparently the M3s were known for that.

[@verficationaccount]

Hi, I´m binging through your videos - and although I realize this is an old one I just wanted to give you a hint about that white balance. You´re not supposed to flip that switch just pointing the camera to whatever is in front. You´re should hold a white or grey sheet of paper in front of it filling the field of view. Then correct aperture (so that it isn´t too bright) and then flip the switch.

[@ElectricEvan]

Yea we used to have a grey card that I vaguely remember being made by Polaroid or someone like that.

[@coffeehigh420]

yeh, I was literally just going to comment about that. Thanks for letting him know. Yep, you are supposed to have the entire image on something pure white, and also adjusting the iris a bit so you are kinda not over the top or under with exposure. THEN you flip that white balance switch. ALSO the black balance is for something BLACK in the room you'd use to completely grab by zooming in until it fills the frame completely and THEN flip black balance. Hope this helps !! (also applies today with modern cameras and some DSLR's even have white balance manual !)

[@aaronblair9583]

I know exactly what happened. It isn't you. The thin polarizer material on the glass prism in front of the tube has separated and is at an inappropriate angle. Same failure mode in old single side play Laserdisc players

[@MadMorgie6318]

Any way of fixing that?

[@KylesDigitalLab]

I don't think it's a problem with the prism. I'm pretty sure a prism failure would be pretty rare considering it worked for a while when he first had it. I think it's capacitors on the video process board that are failing. Common issue with tube cameras that need work. I don't know if CRD still has this camera but I wouldn't be surprised if some of the capacitors in these JVC cameras turned out to be bad. Even Sony cameras from this time have failing capacitors but they usually are tantalum capacitors with Sony while the other companies like JVC/Ikegami used electrolytic. It could also be problems with the black balance.

[@boowiebear]

I was very surprised at the quality, very nice and that is nice glass too. That always makes a huge difference.

[@MadMorgie6318]

I'd love to see someone recap this thing, see if that helps. I agree, this is a gorgeous bit of kit.

[@Leo9ine]

That doubler is also called a teleconverter. You can also get them for 35mm cameras and modern cameras too. They come in 2x, but 1.4x and 3x are common too, and the brightness loss scales with the zoom factor.

[@sacsmitty]

Total nostalgia at the 16-minute mark. I used to shoot high school sports with a Sony Betacam in the early 90s and remember those halos/streeks from shooting lights.

[@bjs2022]

You have to white balance on a white card with the 3200° filter inside or the 6000° filter outside.

[@projectz975]

its interesting seeing this analog camera in use and seeing how many similarities there are to audio equipment. like there being an amplifier with dB ratings and seeing that the color equalization can be knocked out of whack

[@lurkersmith810]

Oh, by the way: Thanks for pointing out that image doubler. I learned my Ikegami has the same thing! (That's a Fujinon lens on your JVC, which is branded on my Ikie, but otherwise looks the same. Very similar design, and I was able to follow along with everything you were showing on the lens with mine.) For video cameras, my first love was a Sony AVC-3200, which I spotted in my high school's AV department. (Yes, I'm an old fart, who remembers 1/2 inch open reel VTRs used in classrooms.) That JVC is the best looking three tube ENG camera I've seen so far. I hope you find a way to fix it. Also, thanks for the idea of using a cell phone as a much, MUCH lighter porta-pack for the camera!

[@CathodeRayDude]

Outstanding! Yep, I'm familiar with 1/2" video - I did a whole essay about it here on my channel, "Forgotten History of Home Video," and I have a working Sony AV-3400. It's way before my time, but I can imagine what it must have been like to have access to this stuff back in the day!

[@lurkersmith810]

@@CathodeRayDude Oh, yeah! That was my first of your videos. KZbin recommended you because I watch Technology Connections, Radio TV Phono Nut, and Techmoan a lot, and you fit right in.

[@SrabbelOnYouTube]

Take a look at the Nikon Nikkor 180-400 1:4E TC1.4 FL ED VR. It's a photographic lens with a 1.4x teleconverter build into the lens itself. So the DSLR market is finally catching up with 80s technology.

[@ChaseWeeks]

In most modern broadcast lenses they have a 2x extender. Surprised those larger newer eng cameras didn’t have ones.

[@Bkoded]

ive managed to recreate the comet trailing effect that tube cameras have but its still no where near as good as an actual tube camera

[@CathodeRayDude]

Wow, I'd be really interested to see this! How did you do it?

[@Bkoded]

​@@CathodeRayDude i didnt get the notif for this oops, from what i can remember at a very basic level i used the threshold effect in after effects on a duplicate of the footage, and then threw an echo effect on that duplicate, it kind of worked but it was still quite digital looking and at times would completely overpower the footage if there were too many bright objects (like the sky etc), apologies for the 7 month late reply haha later down the line i managed to get an old hitachi vk660 (i think thats what its called), but ive got no means of capturing it and might have blown something inside of it, i have no idea what kinda of video signal is sent through the 10 eiaj connector most of the consumer cameras used back then so ive been at a standstill for quite a while as far as that goes, i cant find a vtr or anything either and would rather just hack together some sort of jank solution that terminates in a composite or s video cable that i can just hook up to my tv or a cheap capture card, idk if youd have any ideas in regards to how i could go about that

[@CathodeRayDude]

@@Bkoded I actually do, eiaj-10 was very standard and you only need to know where three pins are to get hooked up to it, you can even buy The mating connectors online. I think I forgot to ever make a page on my site about it, I'll do that soon, but it's really easy, you just need to hook up a composite type RCA cable, and a 12 volt input and you're good to go

[@CathodeRayDude]

Oh, and if you Google eiaj-10 pinout, you can find at least a couple pages that have it already, although they are a little tough to work out if you aren't already experienced with this sort of thing

[@Bkoded]

@@CathodeRayDude i do remember looking at a page back when i was trying to power the camera which had the pinout and was quite helpful, ill have to grab a female eiaj cable (if i can even find anything like that) and diy a composite output alongside means of powering the camera, audio i can sacrifice in the worst case, thanks for clarifying that this is actually possible, i wasnt too keen on spending an unreasonable amount on a power supply someone has probably labelled as ‘vintage’ on ebay that hasnt even been tested

[@weeardguy]

That extra spring lever on the extender, which I know it is called by Fujinon, is most likely meant for feedback to the servo-unit about the position of the extender, which can then relay this information to the camera's CCU-connector (or, on modern lenses, the digital remote that can basically control the whole lens via a 12-pin connector at the bottom of the servo-unit) I don't know if this lens could be equipped, but there are lenses with extenders that can be motorised so the camera operator in the control room can enable the extender remotely. (that's why there's also a feedback-option). Extenders are still very common, even on modern ENG lenses. Their quality is now so good they impact image-quality only measure-able (?). Oh and for 15:00 you did VERY WELL on manually focussing that sparrow (was it a sparrow?). Many, MANY people of my age (33 at the moment, 2021) I know can't even grasp manual focus at all and don't seem to get that the LCD even shows you whether you're in focus or not (though I have to admit, I still miss the good old CRT-viewfinders, which just incorporated peaking on it's own instead of the peaking one usually has to adjust on a LCD-viewfinder to be able to it properly. Sony does a very good job on this, JVC sucks quite a bit when it comes to good focus peaking.

[@xereeto]

You probably know more about electronics than I do... but my opinion is that it needs recapped. Often when something goes bad with time powered on, it's caps.

[@LowellMorgan]

Thank you for sharing.

[@sparkleglitch13]

You probably already know this by now, but in still photography the same idea as there doubler exists as 'tele converters' they are extra elements you manually add to increase. Usually they are designed to work with specific focal range lenses, so a converter for a 200mm lens will not work well is a 50mm lens etc.

[@michaelhans4551]

The Polaroid Macro 5 ( a forensic and dental camera from the 90s) has a very similar mechanism.

[@Dansbus1]

Nice old camera the fault is in the blanking and black level section the tubes clamping is also weak it’s probably just caps as it varies with temperature.you need a schematic really but caps are cheap and as it’s modular you could do a module at a time . It’s the sort of thing I would love to get my teeth into.

[@justinhaase8825]

It's called an extender as well and has one stop of light loss. Amplification is normally called gain. 9db is typically one stop of light sensitivity gained, 18db is two. Modern have from -3 db (useful to reduce light in very bright situations or when you want to open the aperture more to blur the background) up to 42db or even higher. Black levels on older cameras were more prone to drifting over time or after gain usage. Today with modern cameras you might do it once or twice a year for things like news. I agree there was a useful counterbalance effect with the weight. The best was a PDW530 XDCam...just well balanced and the right weight to follow action off the shoulder well. Shot with an HDCam and it was the heaviest damn thing and counterproductive. Had a 300 series P2 last and it was a bit too light. You could start a collection of formats...3/4, oxide betacam, betacam sp, MII, Super VHS, Dcvpro, Dvcam, Betacam SX, HDCam, Digibeta, XDCam, P2, and more...Never a shortage of formats... The king of video back in the day...from about 85-2005 was the Sony D600. The thing cost as much as a house, but was the defacto camera for network level video work, like 60 minutes, Dateline, Nightly News. I'm sure you could pick one up for next to nothing now.

[@jbalazer]

A doubler darkens the image by two stops. 6 dB is one stop and 12 dB is two stops. Here's the math: A doubler doubles the focal length. The aperture diameter is unchanged. The F-number is the focal length divided by the aperture diameter. So doubling the focal length also doubles the F-number. When comparing two F-numbers, you take the square of the inverse ratio to get the change in exposure. So 2x the F-number is 1/4 the exposure. And to express an exposure ratio in stops, you take the base 2 logarithm. log-base-2 of 1/4 is -2. The formula for dB is 20*log(V2/V1) where V2 is the new voltage and V1 is the old voltage. So 6 dB is a doubling of the voltage. [ 20*log(2/1) = 6 ] In these cameras, gain is applied to the linear voltages before gamma encoding is applied. The voltage is directly proportional to the exposure (brightness). So 6 dB of gain is a doubling of the voltage, equivalent to a doubling of the exposure, which is one added stop.

[@KanalFrump]

this really is the quintessential 1980s television camera isn't it? It sure looks the part.

[@ShawnTewes]

You're likely already aware, but some MiniDV and Digital 8 camcorders can accept an AV input for recording or capturing over FireWire. It may be a bit more bulky, but it works great for capturing analog video to 720x480i DV.

[@CathodeRayDude]

I've experimented with this and the results are... not what I'd like, heh. It's also very unpleasant trying to interface with Firewire on modern systems, it turns out. :(

[@InspiredSkeptic]

​@@CathodeRayDudehi! Major fan of yours. Anyway, what was the name of the app you had there, as well as those other components to record from you cellphone?

[@cheaterman49]

Hehe dunno if you did it since (this video being two years old and all) but have you tried recapping the board that's connected to the sensors? And/or the power side of things? Surely that's something you know how to do, the question is more likely about whether or not it's worth your time and money?

[@zsombor_99]

Ah, yes, the good interesting nature of analogue cameras... 👍 😊 These "effects" and this quality never ever can be 100% reproduced digitally❗

[@radiozelaza]

There are DSLR telephoto lenses with built-in teleconverters for photography, usually a 1.25x or 1.4x

[@theartitudeable]

200-400mm from canon

[@boffyb]

Before they all had zoom lenses, studio TV cameras in the UK (and maybe elsewhere), ONLY had a turret with a few different fixed lenses you could rotate between for different types of shots.

[@RussellB]

oh cool you must live really close to me if you shop at Frye's and go to Seward Park! when you zoom on on the plane my place is in there somewhere :) been loving your videos !

[@fusoishere]

Vaporwave videos in downtown Seattle is one of my favourite genres.

[@CathodeRayDude]

I need to do more Out And About footage with my old cameras

[@xmlthegreat]

At first I thought there might be something wrong with the timing circuitry but if you're able to display the test bars then it might not be the case.

[@TrinityCodex]

i do love the vaporwave quality

[@DjResR]

I had an old 90's CCTV camera that also had weird discoloration at the top edge of the image until the image went slowly to black over the months._

[@lishd]

i'm sorry this cool boy broke. maybe it's worth contacting a repair shop, at least for an estimate?

[@arjovenzia]

Makes me sad to. Done a few 'For Love' jobs for mates, old amps n stuff. even 70's stuff where its all easy to get to, low bandwidth, its quite a few hours of work. digital stuff, pretty easy, only a few parts here n there that go bad, hardcore top tier analogue stuff like this... there is an easy weeks solid labor, never mind the part cost. just the effort involved to wrap your brain around how the thing works! let alone trying to fix it. there is probably some ol bloke out there who sees this stuff in his dreams that could tippity tap n solve it no wukkas. But we dont make those any more either :-(

[@Xorrak]

15:45 that looks cool reminds me of animes when characters get really serious and their eyes start making a trail of light like this lel

[@arjovenzia]

got some cheap Chinese lenses for my ol Canon DSLR, weird lenses are great fun to play with. mirror zoom lenses, 2x doublers, T ring, strap it to a 500x spotting scope, that kinda thing. they are a right PITA to use, all manual, but thats why photography (and videography i guess) is a fun hobby, you can screw around with it, and every now and then, something really cool comes out of it. my question is, is there a ring adapter available that you can use your pretty swish old video lens to an SLR mount? by all accounts, thats a pretty nice peice of glass. what is that mount actually called? can I plug it to my canon? (or sony, whatever, worth buying a 'new' depreciated SLR for that) I can really see myself building a shoulder stock for a 10 year old DSLR using a 30 year old pro grade video lens. not sure if its 'a phrase' in the rest of the world, but in AU, it would be 'for shits and giggles', AKA, 'cos I can' also, pretty cool that the squirrel uses that concrete ridge as a highway. I love finding wildlife 'hacks' like that. that scene would have been pretty bad on a camcorder. huzzah big red! Cheers Mate!

[@chrisw443]

Alot of lenses have doublers, these days doublers can look just as good as normal now.

[@dominik.jokiel]

Do the newer cameras have a B4 mount? Instead of the B3 from the red one?

[@CathodeRayDude]

I THINK so, yes. I've been really unclear on what the mounts are truly called, it's very vague.

[@Asiertxu1974]

Hello!! Nice video again. :-) I´ve a question regarding to the video capturing method that you are using with the "Easy Cap" and you cell phone. 1- What kind of software did you used for the video capture? 2- Is that software for an Android device? 3- Does the capture result in the maxium resolution and with all the fields that the camera can supply to the Easy Cap? Thanks in advance and congrats for your videos! Asier.

[@Godzilla_Jesus]

Take it from an 8 bit enthusiast, it needs to be recapped. Capacitors from that era are notorious :)

[@troyspoelma]

What app was that you were using to view the camera on your phone?

[@cab3910]

How to you hook it up to see picture

[@pladmitry]

Did you try recapping it? If there are any caps in tech this old, I wouldn't trust them

[@CathodeRayDude]

I agree, the trouble is that there are probably 500 caps in there and it would be an unbelievably tedious job. Some people are really up to that sort of thing, me not so much.

[@oliverpuczyk2]

@@CathodeRayDude i live not too far from where you were filming and do a little electronics repair

[@adam850]

Gravis, did you shoot vaporwave videos on you cameras?

[@JessicaFEREM]

sad, that camera makes everything look like there's some cheesy effect

[@tony-ci7gu]

Hi! Whats program do you use to record on Phone? Pls say:)

[@TheDzhoel]

the x2 zoom magnifier is really interesting. I wonder what type of lens mount would be used here. Does it still a single flange distance?

[@jbalazer]

That lens mount is just called a bayonet mount. 3-tube (and 3-CCD) television cameras pretty much all use some type of bayonet mount. In the early days, every TV camera manufacturer had their own bayonet mount. At some point, probably in the 1980s, a Japanese standard was established. For 2/3-inch cameras, that standard mount is known as "B4". I don't know if the JVC KY-210 camera uses B4 or one of the earlier proprietary bayonet mounts. The doubler does not change the flange focal distance.

[@rebindfpv800]

Hey was that footage from my highschool?

[@roger285]

One of the capacitor have died dude.

[@Dong_Harvey]

The shots in the park could have been right out of 1984, even your friend fits in.. But as soon as cars show up, the experience is ruined.. Cars doubleungood

[@cjshields2007]

It's just never the same colour

[@famitory]

that video capture setup is fantastic. I think i'd like to do that to a cheap goodwill camcorder and achieve M A X I M U M _ V A P O U R W A V E on the go

[@kekeslider]

I'm blue and aibadee I can die

[@archivis]

:)