Using Old VHS Cameras in 2020!

[@nicholasboule5134]

"but we ALL know it's not really the same thing" Amen

[@IrwinRodriguezJr]

100% agree

[@matthewmucha4221]

This line got me smiling. It's great to start a day with a video like that 😄

[@dwindeyer]

I see video effects trying to emulate consumer tape formats all the time and they never look like the real thing

[@mitchellhughes5180]

Exactly

[@a17labs28]

agreed.

[@mattdayphoto]

As someone that stills shoots mostly film when it comes to photography, I’m loving these videos!

[@EddyJamesDio]

all film here.

[@omegaman1409]

I recently went back to 35mm film camera. I have been having a great time. Film is still alive but mostly as a novelty.

[@PixelBrushArt]

Film gang!

[@nattokami9598]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/gZXTiIKjq7KJbJI

[@PixelBrushArt]

@@nattokami9598 rude

[@EJZ8]

keep up the older camera reviews they r dope!

[@NripanNath]

I wish he does more old camera reviews occasionally.

[@speedyboishan87]

@@NripanNath These old camera's were ok for the 1980's, 1990's but not much for this age we have 4K and 8K doubt the picture will look any good.

[@curtisjudd]

Hahaha! This was rad! I remember "filming" my brother carrying the Olympic torch for the 1984 Olympics on a rented VHS camera which had a separate tape unit with a shoulder strap. I had to run a full kilometer with that beastly kit. What memories!

[@dslrvideoshooter]

Oh man! That is a wild story Curtis! Ouch!

[@0npoint589]

I just love the film-making community!

[@tjh44961]

I remember using one of those as well -- I shot some video in Monument Valley with it. I saw that tape recently -- I should dig up a VCR and look at it.

[@reginaldworthington7558]

Hah! I know what you mean Curtis. Our first foray into the video world was a JVC KY2000 camera hooked up to a Sony BVU100 tape deck (otherwise useful as a boat anchor). This was a 3/4 inch system so slightly more HP than a VHS setup but seriously, I’m not sure the quality bump was worth the hernia we got from lugging that gear around Las Vegas on our first pro shoot 1 day after we got the gear. We even shot some skiing sequences with it at Lake Tahoe on that trip which to this day, I’m amazed we even survived!

[@dodgem259]

@@BadEmpanada You are correct, he is actually lieing. If you go to his website, he states that he got into video making 20yrs ago when a freshman at university. This would put him at 14-15yrs of age 20 yrs ago (year 2000). It's impossible for him to have recorded his brother in 1984 because he was not even born yet.

[@KnapfordMaster98]

Extremely important to remember that all of this footage is interlaced, that means 60 fields per second. A lot of modern tech will just throw away half of the fields to give you 30 progressive (or God forbid you capture at 24). If you capture the original 60i signal, and deinterlace it properly, you can get 60p out of it. Just thought I would mention that since most filmmakers don’t know about interlaced these days.

[@garyboi9779]

what's wrong with 24 🤷‍♂️ as someone who has watched a lot of movies and done a Ton of editing 24 is perfectly fine and brilliant for movies especially cgi heavy ones because in cases in which each frame takes hours to render you want to render the mimimum amount of frames 👌

[@ZacDonald]

​@@garyboi9779 A VHS camera is not a cinema camera, no one is going to be looking for a cinematic experience out of that camera. 60 fps is great for action and movement, which is a lot of what was filmed on there cameras, kids playing sports, at the beach, even seen some skateboarding videos filmed on cameras like these at 60 fps.

[@wright96d]

Shout-out for QTGMC

[@SantiagoMonroy5]

@@garyboi9779 Because 60 into 24 timeline looks like trash. And VHS camcorder footage just looks wrong when it's not 50/60fps,it just doesn't look correct

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

The 60i fields will be however interpolated in 60p but it's still better than discarding them and leaving you with just half the scanlines when de-interlacing it. Better you keep it interlaced since most TVs de-interlace it anyway. Or the Blu-ray / DVD player does it. Or your Upscaler & Line Doubler does it for you. ONLY convert it when you want to upload it online and want to maintain a "interlaced" like appeal that you don't get with 30p

[@JollyStudios]

And remember: Be kind, rewind.

[@bigtommy2556]

So many of my vhs came from old library stock as my library rented vhs and they are covered in those stickers

[@Levibetz]

One tip for ripping footage. Often times with VHS tapes you may struggle with dropped or black frames. This is due to analog video not being fixed in time scale. A trick is to source a DVD-VHS recorder, the sort of device that allowed you to rip VHS tapes to DVDs. These devices will have a built in time correction, and their video outputs will rip flawlessly! Happy VHS-ing.

[@Heymisterbadguy]

Not all dvd-vhs recorders have internal tbcs. Afaik most only use their TBCs when recording to the dvd from the vhs, so you can't just use it to play vhs on the fly. I'd recommend a Panasonic DMR-ES10 or ES15 as an external machine, it's a dvd player and recorder which has a tbc in it that corrects most dropped frames. You can just use its passthrough feature ans enjoy the time corrected vhs tape on the fly. There is a LOT of discussion about frame synchronization, tbc, line tbc, field tbc, frame tbc, blablabla. As of today I have only tested the DMR mentioned above and for my family recorded vhs-c tapes it works perfectly. There are probably way better tbcs (full fledged tbcs;stuff like the videonics mx-1 maybe and the internal tbcs of some high end vhs jvc players), and supposedly the upcoming PixelFX Morph upscaler will have a bult-in full frame tbc as well.

[@tubetype9958]

aren't you the guy who stole the chipmunks

[@AwesomeGuy-oy1fe]

There's just something so genuine about old video tape. Most my my childhood was filmed on MiniDV, so a little different from VHS, but regardless, these videos just have so much charisma to them.

[@weeardguy]

Most of mine was filmed on VHS and VHS-C, and I would not be surprised if some Sony U-Matic was used as well. My dad worked the AV-section of a company specialised in theatre-productions at the time and just taking a big camera home for the weekend for private use was no problem at all. I can only thank him that he was able to do that, as the image-quality of some shots is just pristine compared to what other parents had to deal with. I also like it my dad already made a compilation of all kinds of moments and not kept the raw tapes. Instead of hours and hours of material, everything is compiled to about 160 minutes from before my birth to about my 14th birthday I think. Editing and recording was done on studio-grade equipment. I even played with the mix-table at some point: the processing-unit was in the 'basement-basement' (the studio was already in the basement) as it made a hell of a noise because of cooling fans and required its own air-conditioning . There was a back-up airconditioning that would start as soon as the main unit would fail. The main-unit would signal the 'computer' to shut down and the back-up unit would only be able to keep things cool as the computer would shut down. It sounds hard to imagine that you needed a small room to have a dedicated computer for image-mixing, editing and such, but one could really do everything with that machine. Ah well. The eighties and beginning on the nineties ;)

[@SyntheticFuture]

Being part of the last generation that actually experienced this level of tech it is heartwarming to see it getting it's little revival moment. There's something special about using old tech. Be it an old synthesizer, an old photo or video camera or a old gaming console. Yes you can emulate the results, but you can't emulate the experience :)

[@imark7777777]

Yes I feel sorry for the Next Generation they're going to have anti repair iPhones and Androids and everything else toasters and microwaves refrigerators and stoves that will be no more than a brick pretty much after they get replaced.

[@MuhammadFloyd]

These DIY kind of stuff is the kind of stuff that made me love this channel so much. I like the other content a lot but the DIY stuff is the most unique to this channel!

[@rxgtv]

I like the fact that these have better mics than most phones/cameras these days...

[@HusseinKefel]

You just rolled my memories back then in 1987, this was my first VHS camera and I loved it at the time. I kept learning and shooting with it all the time. This was a fantastic video camera in those days. Thank you for sharing these videos

[@anthonyperkins7556]

The best ever domestic full sized VHS camcorder towards the end of Panasonic's VHS era was the NV-M10. It combined reasonable quality VHS pictures with excellent sounding HiFi VHS Stereo sound delivered through a superb omnidirectional stereo AV zoom microphone that allowed you to capture the sound of your subject as you zoom in resuming normal stereo sound as you zoom out along with a set Tele mode for specifically capturing sound from the front diluting the stereo effect somewhat and a Wide mode keeping the big stereo sound field in addition to the Zoom mode. If you want to abandon the built-in stereo microphone and use your own external stereo microphone, you may do so as it came equipped with a stereo mic socket plus a built in accessory shoe to mount it on. It also could be linked up to a compatible Panasonic VCR by a LANC lead to easily edit your videos to a second VHS tape. It also had insert edit using the picture and Hi-Fi Stereo tracks in-camera for drop-in shots through the lens and it also had audio dub using the linear mono track (using the built in or an external microphone) for a touch of creativity plus a sound mix switch to combine the two HiFi and mono tracks on playback. It didn't like using standard grade VHS tapes like TDK HS or Scotch HG as these would clog the video heads easily but it liked Super High Grade VHS tape / Extra High Grade VHS tapes plus HiFi Grade VHS tapes and Pro Grade VHS tapes such as TDK E-HG, TDK SHG HiFi, 3M Professional, 3M Broadcast, BASF HiFi Professional, Maxell XL-HiFi, Sony V-Pro, Fuji Double Coated SHG, Fuji Double Coated SHG Pro, TDK E-HG Pro-X and similar.

[@Patrick-jj5nh]

The lenses in some of these old cameras are the real gem. Some incredible constant zoom lenses...

[@AdamsLab]

For me, as much as I love clean and clear audio, the cleaner audio from the external mics ruins the "illusion" of the VHS. I'd probably record with the external mic (or external recorder) and then "dirty" it up to maintain the VHS feel.

[@johnbmx4christ]

that wireless setup sounded just the perfect level of crappiness to match. that thing is hidious.

[@imark7777777]

Definitely got to have some of that mechanical noise , although it was interesting to see that it was really just the microphone and not the recording capturing Tech that was adding the unpleasantries shall I say. I bet they took some cost-cutting measures in the microphone circuit schematic, there might even be some proximity interference internal.

[@Invincible_joe]

Yeah that's what Skycorp guy does

[@yousefabdulrhman858]

When a 1987 camera have better autofocus than the bmpcc.

[@80-80.]

Add new Panasonic’s on that list 😆

[@yousefabdulrhman858]

@书中自有黄金屋 it's a jk.

[@johnward6361]

I recorded Christmas morning with a vhs camcorder this past December. I’m not sure how much the rest of my family appreciated it but I found the footage really fun and interesting

[@jeffreyfletcher1780]

Growing up on VHS cameras, I never would've dreamed we would have access to the quality of video cameras we have now. Technology is amazing.

[@LenKusov]

Good primer, but as someone who regularly uses a (one year newer) Panasonic camcorder for videos, I've got some pointers. First, not all tapes are created equal - Maxell is better than Fuji, is better than TDK, and High Grade tapes are noticeably better than Standard, and quality degrades as you tape over things, so Maxell High Grade is my go-to and I have about a dozen I cycle through. Second, CALIBRATE YOUR CAPTURE STICK, the default settings are terrible. Get something with composite output (I used an Xbox) that can display SMPTE colorbars and use those to tweak settings from the drivers. Then throw out the CD it came with and use VLC, with all the video noise reduction settings maxed and a little bit of Sharpen, and NO DEINTERLACING. Also, if you can, either record from S-Video instead of composite or get something like a WinTV card that's got a real comb filter, EZCap and knockoffs just low-pass filter it so you get NTSC smearing ON TOP OF VHS artifacts. Third, CLEAN YOUR TAPE HEADS, most cameras don't have self-clean rollers like VCRs do, get a cleaning tape and some 91% rubbing alcohol and run it through every 3 or 4 full tapes or whenever the artifacting starts to get worse or the noise starts getting past VLC's denoising. Finally, if you can, play back the tapes on a machine with time-base correction - Panasonic (and Magnavox, Sylvania, and GE, since those are all rebranded Panasonics) cameras have TBC built in but a cheaper camera, VHS-C camera, or a tape recorded on a different machine will tend to have issues with 'wobble' and framerates that aren't quite right, so a good 4-head or 6-head VCR will improve quality by a lot, some even have digital noise reduction and filters built in and many have S-Video.

[@jimmyjakes1823]

That's what I was going to say, except I don't think it's worth bothering with the cleaning tapes. It's cheaper and it does a better job to just open it up and clean the heads directly with foam swabs and some 99% alcohol. That by itself improves the quality massively on any 30 year old VCR or Camcorder. He's screwing around with hundreds of dollars of external mics and cables when just swabbing the audio head with some alcohol would probably eliminate the 90% of the hiss.

[@FlamespeedyAMV]

So much nostalgia, i love the way these old cameras look, wish more people would record in 2021 with these

[@gmanatusek4864]

I still use them, my dad bought one in 1998

[@ArcticArca]

i agree

[@firstandlastproductionsllc]

Ah, great memories! 'Borrowing' my dad's VHS camcorder in the late 1980s was how I got my start as well. And in 8th grade (1991) my video production class use to edit videos off of shoulder mounted VHS camcorders as well. Thanks for the throwback!

[@weeardguy]

But you know, I think that is the way to start stuff like that. There are so much options these days. Tapes were tapes. One had to THINK about what you wanted to do to avoid long review-sessions before editing could even start. With all the NLE-software these days, putting clips wherever you want them, is so easy, but thinking about all of the stuff you want to capture beforehand saves a lot of time.

[@christosvolikakis1523]

Brings back so many memories - I love this! The old scotch tape over the VHS cassette tab trick -when did I f**in become ancient! 😂

[@johnlushenko8607]

Great video! -- I have two Panasonic Omnivision cameras from the early 1980's, a portable Panasonic recorder/player and a power supply to use the cameras and play through one of my VHS recorder/players. I will be getting them up to speed next week. I used this equipment back in the 80's and LOVE IT! I hauled the recorder/player, the Panasonic camera and a separate battery power pack to the GULF ISLANDS in Canada! I shot videos for two weeks up in the islands. They came out beautiful! The Panasonic Nevicon tube has such a wonderful color capture for everything I shot in the ocean, to landscapes to magnificent Canadian sunsets! I even used a second VHS recorder and edited some rented tapes that I found at a Victoria VHS tape rental store. It was a blast and the tapes came out beautifully! Yes, nostalgia for sure but great nostalgia. I also have the newer 4K and 8K cameras but these old Panasonics are just very very special gear!

[@chadwin]

This was a fun retro trip to take today! Thanks Caleb. Sadly, the oldest cams I used were all mini DV (such a dad cam from the 90's)

[@reubendotson7212]

His lighting, and setup is impeccable

[@JOAOAUGUSTODIASABREU]

Hat's off! You've just provide us with a beautiful time travel into a phenomenal time of my life! Remembering my VHS time is so overwhelming and brings so much memory's back (My father was alive back then, for instance...and I clearly remember when HE bought us the 1st VHS camera recorder and VHS home player...man...) I'm really grateful for this effort of yours and well done video! Please keep it up!

[@channelgoera]

Gosh..... that's the vintage Panasonic NV M5 EN.... the 1st video camera i used way back in 1988. Brings back good memories.

[@RyanMichaelss]

2:04 "Because they just make me sad" 😂

[@yunghart]

Lol those were the dark ages of consumer cameras

[@spencerfalzy]

I know what he means but I’m still dying laughing ahahaha

[@beamboi2775]

@@yunghart no they were getting more popular and better

[@pbsalfen]

Funny that I ran across this video as I just found my old Panasonic AG-456U (S-VHS) in the closet the other day. Along with several, still wrapped, Sony S-VHS tapes. I've used this several times in the past to xfer friends old family VHS tapes to digital. I hadn't thought of actually using it, but now I might.

[@geraldundone]

These are fun videos, Caleb! 🤓👍

[@sammysantanapr]

Dope video i was surprised how good it was with the external mic and recording. Definitely made a huge difference. 🙌💯

[@LeeZavitz]

When I was 10-12 I used my parent's Hitachi VHS camcorder to shoot stop motion videos. I have no idea how I figured it out but it was an old 1991 model and I don't ever remember the autofocus sucking lol

[@connornyhan]

Having just been the DP on a film shot on MiniDV tapes, and loving the aesthetic its given the footage, I gotta say, I love the influx of videos on older tape-based cameras.

[@elemanielpagan8519]

Being able to take photos and videos in a couple seconds and being to also delete and retake these moments with virtually no hassle has made taking photos and videos feel less meaningful in my opinion. Having something physical that you know exists and isnt just a digital file stored in your phone or the cloud feels much more real and raw. I was born into a generation with smart phones and tech but Ive been feeling the urge to go back in time for a while now. Thanks for the awesome video keep it up !

[@josericardogs1435]

I'm still using VCRs today, to play old movies and record shows from tv channels, it's fun to use!

[@imark7777777]

I am partially thankful that I switch to a digital bassed system first DVD and then computer but I never know what to call it and explaining it to somebody is a pain so I decided to call it a VCR a video computer recorder. Then I go yeah I record TV with a vcr and they go okay I know what you're talking about and I say but it's not on tape. If it weren't for the lack of ability obtaining a decent quality VCR I would probably still be using one.

[@punishedprops]

I love this! Growing up we had a similar VHS camera, but I think it was from RCA. I bet my parents still have it!

[@imark7777777]

Funny you should say that I think I have a Magnavox and doing some research on replacing my charger it seems like it's a very bass manufacturing which is then rebadged to a few different companies that probably varied by country. So there's a lot of commonality.

[@okjeffy6581]

My dad used to have this camera. I have some videos, but I lost the tapes and they are burnt. :( I still have my old videos from 2010 at least.

[@digitaldevigner4080]

I hope this will put into perspective to some people never happy with the current cameras just how far we have come with video. The fact we can shoot 4k raw on a $1,300 Pocket 4k camera is just mind blowing to those of us that started with VHS. Even looking at DV from my old Canon XL1 blows me away just how much we have today.

[@Lexington101]

At 4:47 I was expecting you to read a statement saying you were alive and well and to give your captors the ransom money.

[@eoleol4750]

this video is full of information. All of the problems related to using these old camcorders are address. Power supply, recording directly to digital file, avoiding tapeback on an old camera, and more. Thanks my man!

[@GaryJahman]

I asked my kids if they knew what VHS was. They thought it was a disease.....

[@ZiitsprungMedia]

probably they where right... :-) VHS was indeed a disease.. LOL

[@wright96d]

@@ZiitsprungMedia And laserdisc was the cure.

[@imark7777777]

It wasn't a disease I mean we had a VHS graveyard Apple's types and players., autocorrect... It wasn't a disease? I mean we had a VHS graveyard between tapes and players.

[@GremlinBando]

Lolol that made my night!

[@DelCampoProductions.]

Show your kids a garbage can full of vhs cassetes and put a paper that says vhs on it and tell them that is a VHS graveyard

[@NoahNCopeland]

Recording a VHS camera to an SSD. ... Why do I love this?

[@TucsonAnalogWorkshop]

As someone who lived through the transition from Super 8 film cameras to camcorders, I still find them too sad to be nostalgic about...in the early 80s the Super 8 film cameras had gotten so sleek/compact with so many features (and even sync sound) and not only that, they shot lovely FILM. Camcorders just pulled the rug out from under a technology that was reaching its height and that stung! These beastly VHS (and Betamax) cameras seemed like such a step backwards, in every manner except cost. Super 8 sound film was less than $10 for 3 minutes (including processing) back then, but of course video was/is practically free for hours of footage, so naturally the general public chose quantity over quality

[@revokdaryl1]

How about 16mm? I've seen some feature films with 2K restorations that were shot on 16mm and they look almost as good as 35mm. I take it a 16mm camera for the general public would have been out of reach moneywise for most people.

[@analog.dreamworld]

so boss. the rode wireless go sounded like you were a news broadcaster from the 80s. what a rad vintage setup

[@digitalmagicAR]

Cool review! As someone who has shot and edited a lot of VHS footage I can say the format is horrible but certainly has a nostalgic feel to it today. I still have an old VHS, Hi8 and D-8 camera that I've considered shooting retro video with. The Super 8 film camera was the neatest but we left the batteries in and they corroded it, sadly.

[@HotFriesMmm]

Hi, I just got a camcorder and when i plugged in the ac adaptor to power it it was working but then while recording and trying to play back all the lights on the buttons started flashing. do you know what this means? it stopped working. I was hoping someone might know what the troubleshooting is for it

[@filmsallday]

it looks so aesthetic in your studio, its so pleasing to watch

[@kennethrungsted7487]

6:55 it just look/sound wrong with a good microphone to that picture .... its like the brain expect a different sound to that image

[@dslrvideoshooter]

I thought the exact same thing!!!

[@charanjeetrandhawa3582]

Yup, it's not quite the same! It's great to have a throwback to a time like this If you look at it objectively, it proves a point a few folks on here have said. Even with a poorish video, decent sound really can transform a video, and it's the one thing which on most phones/cameras these days, can be upgraded for not alot of cash.

[@mikal]

It was synced right, either. But yeah, it sounded wrong. I wouldn't use that audio.

[@BLiu1]

A creative way to dirty the audio up without introducing too much noise could be adding a heavy low pass filter and a subtle 60Hz hum. (but what do I know? I'm too young to have recorded on VHS)

[@wichtelchen]

@@BLiu1 replicating the sound without using a real VHS tape is indeed relatively easy. Bandpass at ~160-5000hz (not too steep!) is a good idea. But not enough to sound authentic. Very important: Get the most primitive dynamic compressor you can get. Set attack to lowest possible value and release to a high value. Yes, it will bumbs down sound alot on peaks, but most of these old camcorders had ugly "automatic gain control" mechanisms that worked like this. Noise, distorted mains hum and tape saturation effect would round up the result. Use a toy microphone, if you have one, and ensure the noise of the tape drive gets recorded too. :)

[@OrdoNekro]

I like how you keep adding more and more stuff onto the camera to eventually form up devastator. Way cool.

[@MichaelBallif]

Really loved this video. I'm a huge retro tech nut, so seeing these older camera reviews/tutorials is right up my alley. Have you looked into getting better capture cards for your tapes? Apparently they make a big difference in terms of quality (kind of silly to be talking about quality when we're referring to VHS tapes, but still!). The Canopus ADVC 110 is supposed to be great for this.

[@54V4]

It was a pleasure watching this one a bit more than all your other videos. Maaann you are so composed and polite. That's rare in these days. Thank you!

[@twosheafilms]

Man... I love this retro series you've got going on! Is there going to be a 35mm video coming out? You're awesome Caleb!

[@thebunn]

That footage.... it looks so siiick! Very nice Caleb!

[@SockPuppetParody]

Love the old camera vs new camera comparisons! So I foresee comparison video soon :)

[@loveplane737]

yeah

[@otabwill709]

Good old log and capture. I’ll never miss it!

[@cybrtrkguy]

8:21 "But since I'm Caleb Pike from DSLR Video Shooter" iM WHEEZING

[@otabwill709]

When you turn on caps lock but still hold shift for the first letter of the sentence 😂

[@Leo9ine]

Hey Caleb! Quick advice for the VHS cam. You can get a 12v car outlet adapter to dummy battery for these. Hard to find but they exist. Then cut the wires, solder on a barrel plug, and bam, now it connects to the 12v output of your V mount battery! Plus you can use the 5v to power the RCA>HDMI converter. Throw it on rails with some grips and you're in business, VHS cam with endless V mount power and modern rigging. I did exactly that and I love it!

[@yeaboy707]

Most original thing I’ve seen on a camera channel recently. Meanwhile everyone is obsessing over the Canon R5’s 8k RAW.

[@ryanskelton9548]

I love this video, He knows the footage doesn't look good at all but build of the camera is very clear it just fits perfectly and looks very cool. The Old VHS look has a very particular appearance that can't be emulated, even the hiss from the audio has a certain nostalgia for me.

[@tombuck]

I always thought the VHS cameras were the coolest because they looked like the big tv news cameras. That being said, a little 8mm Sony Handycam is my bff.

[@gopanski5330]

This is aweswomee!! You should record those Retro Reviews with this camera to make it feel even more Retro

[@DirectorCM]

I recently just shot an entire short film using a VHS camcorder. I've had the camera since 1984 and it still works like a charm! I wish more people would shoot with actual VHS because VHS Filters drive me absolutely nuts and they are never accurate.

[@imark7777777]

That had to have been an interesting shoot. So many comments that I want to repeat another comments. I know somebody who's working on a script for a short film that uses different years of Technology. He wants to use filters and I'm like to be so fun for everybody involved to actually step through each generation of Technology. Although I might just be biased as I have a VHS camera, it was a hand-me-down it was my first camera in the video format which was weird as my first camera was technically digital still 2 megapixel. I had film cameras though they were cheapy ones that always broke so I know there's a lot of things I've taken photos of that I've never going to see. Although my mom did have a nice film camera other than that growing up poor in the 90s....

[@DirectorCM]

@@imark7777777 Shooting on actual VHS with VHS Camcorder does have it's technological drawbacks but they are quite easy to overcome. I've been making films since the early 80's and many of them are on tapes that have been lost to the sands of time. Many were edited using 2 VCRs (which was a nightmare lol) I'd say your friend should most definitely shoot with the actual technology, if it's available. Filters and Editing Plug-ins just don't do justice to the actual thing.

[@imark7777777]

@@DirectorCM yes nightmare should I say that's how I learned linear editing somehow we managed to have two working VCRs in our house and I wanted to condense some tapes shall we say some might have definitely not been from the library. One of these days of attacked the archive of tapes with probably many shows that don't exist anymore on them somehow we managed to record a lot even though we had constant VCR problems. Well I do partially too, I was actually thinking it might be good to do both digital and non-digital that way there's sort of a rough daily to work from. Do to good news and partially bad news the film festival theme last year was picked and that's where the idea came from and then subsequently the film festival got delayed, had venues issues, was offered to use our space in a community TV Studio, declined / didn't reply, got got canceled and was looking forward to 2020 dot-dot-dot c-19.

[@bobstark8749]

Thanks for the trip down memory lane! I had the Panasonic Omni-Movie VHS and still have a Panasonic Mini-DV Palmcorder. I have since digitized all the footage shot with these cameras and made home movie style videos with Adobe Premiere. Now I'm using Davinci Resolve and recently put together another video from archived footage shot on the Omni-Movie. Color grading that was quite an adventure and my first real experience color grading with the highly sophisticated Davinci Resolve. I think it would be interesting to learn about different approaches to workflows of color grading footage shot from these older cameras. Perhaps let well enough alone to preserve the authenticity is enough, but some of that footage is hard to look at using modern day monitors and GPUs. With all of the new high-resolution stuff out these days, it seems there's not a lot of information about this kind of thing and I know there's a lot of older video out there that can be brought back to life. I'm shooting full Hi Def now. Perhaps someday I'll have a more modern system that uses the latest technology and the current resolutions. But for now, I'll keep learning and be content with what I have.

[@MichaelAChang]

This reminded me of my old Panasonic ENG camera and Sony U-Matic portable recorder in my basement - just maybe I'll fire it up!

[@alfredoziano]

Ergonomics on these are just so perfect. Great video, this made my day.

[@YakovGYP]

With the good lighting, the footage totally looks like an 80's or early 90's television commercial.

[@imark7777777]

Probably because most commercials were low-budget and some TV shows with low budget as well directly used VHS. I'm remembering a Monty Python sketch... film vs. Tape

[@DriLL3iT]

So cool, nostalgia is the best feeling and this triggered it for sure. The overkill vhs setup is awesome!

[@ThisIsTechToday]

This is a vibe

[@zguyofficial6206]

This is awesome

[@Thats_my_Point]

Caleb! I found and bought may childhood VHS camera about 6 months ago, got brand new batteries for it, and figured out a wireless and recording option as well! Great minds. The nostalgia cuts crazy deep

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

Protip: use the DV codec for capturing your VHS videos. It is Standard Definition anyway and the DV codec is an codec which allows you to non-destructively cut and splice at any point of the video file without destroying any keyframes and ending up cutting into a Group of Pictures because EVERY single frame is an actual stand-alone frame. And bitrate-wise DV codec is juuuust fine for VHS material too. These files can be edited with any editing software without having to use any special extra codec.

[@romekatomek1507]

Stop spreading bullshit please. DV codec is very quality destructive, especially in NTSC.

[@groovexmedia]

Man That took me back to the days we used to have the Panasonic M5... great video, Caleb!!

[@theVHSvlog]

Up until this year I've been collecting and filming on VHS but boy has it gotten cumbersome to replace belts and clean heads and digitize and make sure all the lead acid batteries are being charged and discharged. I love VHS and I love filming on something that feels so tangible but it's not sustainable for me. Hopefully I'll change my mind in a couple years

[@RockinEnabled]

Sounds like some masochistic experience to me :D

[@dougchampion8084]

Love this kind of thing, thank you for making this, and thank you KZbin for existing.

[@Archytas-Leroy55]

I like the look of the old stuff. Also those cameras were made like tanks. These new ones break if you sneeze to loud.

[@ezpainting4697]

I owned gs400 and vx2100e and for years they spoilt...this made me wanna repaired mine.bring back alot of memories!

[@jaceyc9418]

4:48 It quickly turned into a hostage asking for ransom video.

[@raviwolfboy]

Joker is hearing..

[@rosesaintlaurent]

Hopefully my dad still has some of his old cameras laying around somewhere. I would always get excited whenever he had one out growing up, I really miss those moment's.

[@third_beacon]

It's definitely not the same thing! Plugins miss the most important ingredients: magic and shoulder pain! ;)

[@RealPrincessToadstool]

I still own the GE 1CVM6060E VHS Camcorder, it was actually manufactured by Panasonic. But still works. All the eBay listings just say it never worked when they did not plugged it in yet. Always ask them to plug it in, check the mini tube in the viewfinder, and make sure the thing Ejects Tapes!

[@rag.animations]

Very calm voice & video, really refreshing considering tons of ADHD inducing videos of today.

[@n0_31]

All I needed to see was one of your videos and that's an instant subscription, I'm trying to get a good condition still working VHS camera and it's so hard there either not working or missing the charger, but you make me wanna keep lookin. Thanks

[@SamuelRush]

To think I spent two days turning 4k 10bit footage into vhs style footage for my last video. All I needed to do was raid my parents basement!

[@imark7777777]

I hope that's a joke sort of. I know somebody who's writing a script for a short film that's going to involve different levels of video technology and wants to play around with the video effects to create that. In some ways I'm sitting here thinking it would be cool to actually do it on each piece of technology for all parties involved.

[@SamuelRush]

@@imark7777777 Yeah! I think it's worth exploring!

[@pembridgehouse]

Thanks for this.At one stage I had 3 Panasonic Super VHS cameras. I now still have one in the attic which I think would still work fine.I might have to give it a try. I used them for family holidays and kids sports etc. We also (my youngest son and I) started doing wedding videos and swapped over to the Canon XL1 mini dv camera. My son now works in the motion picture industry on major movies in digital effects etc.He got started with this type of camera.

[@cabreracarolina]

pls dont tell me that im the only one who saw this from recommendations 💀

[@csmvideoproductions7359]

That was a really good trip down memory lane. I remember my Dad using a shoulder mount and a saddle bag to carry the VCR to film me at the pool. Everyone thought he was a TV camera operator. At the time (1983) camcorders were not an item that everyone had. VHS players were just becoming common in peoples homes.

[@Subparanon]

Goes through the trouble of buying a vintage VHS camera, tapes, and all of the gear for it. Bypasses the VHS and the tape to record direct to SD card. Lol. He could have bought a 240 line CCD security camera and done the same thing.

[@jakepieschel5353]

Finally someone who has love for these old vhs camcorders as i do. I currently own a panasonic palmcorder but would love to find a fullsize eventually. Im still amazed on how easy it is to find batteries for them yet. Thanks for the video, you are definitely one ill subscribe to :)

[@PrincessAshly]

I just bought one of those like 2 weeks ago, before seeing this video even existed. I have to agree, the cameras are great.

[@dflf]

As someone who lugged around an RCA CMR200 camcorder on vacations ( you’d love my Disneyland footage) back in the 80’s I found this video pretty hilarious.

[@andypantsowen]

Outstanding video, Caleb! This is too good. The only bummer is all the work we have to go to now to make “plug-and-play” technology work again. The joy with the VHS camera was that you could remove the tape from the camera and put it straight in your VCR. I don’t think any tech has been SO easy to use since. DVD camcorders tried in the early 00’s, Flip Cameras circa 2008-2010, and Chromecast/AppleTV makes it so we can share our phones videos or KZbin, but I do miss the days where literally anyone could do this. Great share!

[@finno123456]

I love the quality of the old vhs tapes that old nostalgia for that year

[@Renoapproves]

I'm happy that people still use them. 😅 My grandpa had one and he gave it to me two years ago. I was too afraid to use it yet, because I didn't wanted to break something. It is a Panasonnic camera that uses mini VHS tapes. I believe it is from around 1994.

[@OutTheFilms]

That is honestly the most "bad a" setup I've seen. Love it, Caleb!

[@yousefabdulrhman858]

You know it could be a fun project i mean it must gave you some ideas and for less 100 dollars we have nothing to lose.

[@macgeorgeproductions]

This brings back a lot of memories. My first job in broadcasting was at a public access cable channel using that very camera.

[@imissmypencils]

I love how over the top you went for this! Great work!

[@cactusstudiossouth]

I've had every VHS Camcorder since the first Sony BetaMax in 1983 to SVHS Olympus 305 to Panasonic AG 450 to Sony Hi-8 to JVC Digital! Now I do most of my shooting with the GoPro Hero 4! But that certainly is a cool little Gadget you have there!

[@pezzzzzz]

i just bought this camera from goodwill!!! i can’t wait to use it :) i plan on using it in many of my films (and to feel like a kid again)

[@jakoblacour]

So amazing!!! Would be awesome with a video explaining how to convert various old video content from VHS and so forth to digital. Love your work!

[@newlifestudiovhs924]

If by any means you are unable to recover the tapes, contact us, Thank You

[@tony714keene]

the first microphone was great to hear you liked it a lot.

[@cr8iveamboy775]

Yes. These are the classic camcorders to get.. the size made u feel like a professional.. you kept yours in very good condition.. that is awesome how you modernized it.. you know your stuff and know how to improve.. who ever thought we would one day be using USB technology to bring it up to today's quality and formats... btw, the ones that were made in the 90s are kinda sad overall, but there are a few good ones.. atleast the monitor was in color..

[@JjackVideo]

I really like it when you showcase these old cameras. It's getting me inspired to start capturing stuff around me somehow