Labguy checks out his Ampex Nagra VPR-5

Labguy checks out his Ampex Nagra VPR-5 after it sat in a storage case at the foot of his bed for six or seven years. A quick, down and dirty demo. Three minutes for your short attention span viewing pleasure. This playback was done using the rare heterodyne color corrector unit. This device allowed the producer to check the recording in the field without dragging around a one hundred pound digital time base corrector. The color adapter is not required for recording. Only for verifying that color was recorded to tape on location.

[@JoePolvino]

This was my favorite VTR going back to 1987-88 when I worked in the video production department as a summer co-op at a large company. The Sony u-matic 3/4" units were the workhorses for field recordings, but we'd occasionally have a VIP session with an executive and busted out the VPR-5. It was an amazing little machine and I absolutely loved everything about operating it. We also had a few Ampex VPR-80s for our VHS duplication system, and a few Sony BVH-2000s that were primarily for the editing suite. Ikegami cameras for field as well. I wonder what happened to all that equipment.

[@KylesDigitalLab]

What about Betacam? I thought Betacam basically made 1" videotape obsolete. 3/4 inch doesn't have enough bandwidth to compete with 1 inch but I know Betacam can

[@mikecumbo7531]

@@KylesDigitalLabnot everyone dropped 1” for Betacam or BetacamSP immediately. Rather hard to dump a paid off investment for marginal technical improvement especially since that shop had the portable 1”.

[@JeffJasperVO]

Wow, I've seen a lot of VTRs but never that one. When I was in television school, we had an RCA "portable" 2-inch quad machine. It was the size of a chest freezer. But apparently, being mounted on casters made it "portable." LOL! Thanks for a great vid!

[@machineman303]

Hi, I have a VPR-5 too, I am a Hungarian collector. It is a MK II. PAL model, with very low hours. I have a spare head tip:), heterodyne color adaptor, video-out block, XLR-block. Also have a cover for big reels, and two NiCd battery & intelligent charger (of course with replaced cells). It needed 5-6 year of hunting to get one, but finally I found it in Sweeden for quite expensive. But it is my all time favourite. I have 20+ other machine (e.g. CV-5600P color, CV-2100, Panasonic D3 AJ-D350 etc

[@henrylikesradios]

In 1986 I visited Kudelski in Cheseaux sur Lausanne and during the tour of their facility I was shown the this machine still in its development phase. They had what would have been a prototype in the testing phase. The quality of their products shows that even this unit was in storage for several years and for its age it still functions well.

[@Null_Protogen]

I'm surprised that someone would be making a Quadruplex machine in 1986, when UMatic completely replaced it in the early '70s.

[@scottstrang1583]

That is one precision piece of equipment. I'd like one of those and the Nagra D unit. Their stuff is always beautiful.

[@renegonzalez6755]

There is one being sold for $10,000 as-is on ebay. The open reel to reel color video machines are beyond my skill level. These rare machines are popping up on ebay at the moment. They do look beautiful.

[@shstrang98]

That is AWESOME. I have never seen one of those in action.

[@IPteevee]

I remember working with a BVU-110 but lusting after one of these. I forget how much they cost, but it was a bundle! And a tad on the heavy side for use as a "portable" recorder. ;-)

[@Stbcq2]

So cool!!! I used 1inch back in the day!!

[@DelilahThePig]

Like laserdisc, now that I've seen one in action the itch has been scrathed and I no longer HAVE to buy one. Thank you for posting.

[@tonydinkel]

I wanted to shoot a bunch of spots with that recorder back in the 80s. The rental house talked me in to Beta SP. Still wish I could have shot on this machine though!

[@linuxromania]

Oh my dear ! i m still looking for a philips vintage radio , built upon on very rare red vacuum tubes, but no joy in this life (yet) . However is amazing how well preserved that Nagra is, do not bother about break squeaks. Please preserve that reel tape , coz will be the best seller in museums over some years. Sincerely , Gabriel yo8rxp

[@marca9955]

Beautiful gear

[@ersatzkanaljens9713]

this is a very cool tape machine

[@LaLaLand.Germany]

AWSOME!!

[@andyshakeshaft6943]

Dont forget this video shows the extended version which allowed the 1hr reels to be fitted. Normally it was a record deck with the smaller 20 min reels. Ideal for OB field insert shots and OB in awkward places--BBC even started a soap on a ferry!! it didnt last long. Hey Gerry didnt you have a particular interest across the pond?

[@-r9277]

Very cool!

[@gerryk3114]

Nagra made the VPR-5 for Ampex. First used in the Winter Olympics.

[@louispoche4312]

A lot lighter than the VPR-20 I used to have to lug around.

[@coffeehigh420]

thats a nice 4k unit !

[@videobobdammit4818]

I'll take 4K for mine!

[@douro20]

I had no idea Nagra made VTRs. Does this have an oven-controlled crystal oscillator for the servo clock?

[@machineman303]

My goal is to get all format, including a Quad VTR. In my country, only very few Quad machine existed (less than 10), mostly RCA types, with in-house modification to SECAM subcarrier (under the soviet times, we must use SECAM, now we are fully PAL).

[@alex002009]

no comments!!! SUPER !!!

[@danksmokaz]

wow now thats cool

[@WJCTechyman]

Looking at this machine and you threading it looks similar to a scale model of an IMAX projector being threaded, with the exception of diddling (that's actually the term used by IMAX projectionists) a few metres of film from the supply platter to run through the rotating rolling loop head of the projector and over to the take up platter.

[@lutello3012]

I would love one of those and an old broadcast tape of Star Trek TNG. Unfortunately I've heard 103 is regarded as one of the worst (maybe amusing) episodes. Was that physically sent to TV stations or did they record it themselves from C-band?

[@douro20]

I did a bit of reading...these were about $45,000 new in 1986. Actually quite cheap compared to other C-format VTRs of the time.

[@gerryk3114]

Nope, 33k -36k depending on configuration!! The battery & Charger were unbelievably expensive !!! It came without audio pre-amps, without a camera interface, without a time base corrector !! Everything was Alacarte !! Nagra made it for Ampex !!

[@RedPillRecording]

I'm guessing the $45,000 was after you bought all that extra stuff.

[@wayneblake4596]

HOW MUCH?

[@jamesdavis5096]

that looks awesome. how about some more of that great footage? some modern stuff?

[@videolabguy]

Sorry boss. I sold that machine several years ago. Otherwise, I would do as you ask.

[@8bitwidgets]

Hi there, this is awesome stuff! I'm desperately looking for some insight that I feel you would be well qualified to answer. I'm on the verge of acquiring AMPEX TBC-6 but then I got caught off guard when I learned from another youtube video that these work with "heterodyne non segmented VTR" and this got me wondering if this means the TBC-6 would not work with a standard VHS composite signal. I have a Echo Switch that I was able to get working with a standard VHS tape and that device is (as far as I can tell) Broadcast Quality hardware also. Just making sure before I close the deal on this TBC-6 that it would work with regular composite signals. Thanks for sharing your insight in these videos!

[@8bitwidgets]

also bonus question.. i'm making sure.. would the TBC-6 be able to provide two independent TB corrections? so i could run the video A and B out of it into the Switch and be synced up?

[@8bitwidgets]

this was my last video showing the wall i hit without two TBC for both signals.. kzbin.info/www/bejne/pIPKmmN5eM-Xm5I

[@videolabguy]

Caleb. All great questions. Those are way above my pay grade. I suggest you become a member of the OLDVTRs discussion forum. This is THE place for answers to questions just like yours. Here is the link: groups.io/g/OldVTRS

[@8bitwidgets]

@@videolabguy thanks so much! I'll check it out for sure. :)

[@retro-reels5652]

Hi, I am trying to source a brush/slip ring assy for one of these. Do you know where I might be able to source one ? Thanks

[@videolabguy]

If you love old video tape recorders, you really must join the OLDVTRs discussion forum. groups.io/g/OldVTRS Let me be the first to welcome you.

[@retro-reels5652]

videolabguy Thanks, is this the same as the Yahoo old VTRs forum ? I am on that one. Getting parts for these is certainly a challenge. I was in touch with an ex Ampex engineer, but unfortunately, he’d already passed on most of his bits to another collector.

[@williammanganaro9070]

to hell with the video, its fun and amazing just watching the deck in action. This makes threading tape my R2R audio decks child's play compared to this deck !! LOL

[@cameriqueTV]

Why did Nagra not create a cassette deck, or am I missing something?

[@altebander2767]

Because Type C came on reels. Using cassettes would have killed the feature of interoperability with your standard type c broadcast video recorders. This was not meant for ENG it was far to expensive for that. It was meant to be used for high value productions where the setup of a scene typically takes far longer than threading in the tape.

[@PanDownTiltLeft]

Anyone know the original price of these?

[@videolabguy]

Around $45,000

[@kakureru]

don't forget to deinterlace for youtube :P

[@edwinparsons7929]

Upside down lacing compared to a VPR2 etc.

[@M.I.R-Live]

Прекрасный аппарат!

[@videolabguy]

(A wonderful device!) Большое спасибо! (Thank you, very much!)

[@colinmcnab6145]

These still cost thousands in 2020.

[@g_fenocchi]

can someone give me a rough quote of the price of one of these?

[@videolabguy]

Just the VTR, $1,000. An entire kit, $$$?