Making a Cinematic Video with A 30-Year-Old Camcorder ?

[@MathieuStern]

VHS-C camcorders : ebay.us/Bqct6I Digit now recorder : amzn.to/49bW7iM Blazar anamorphic adapter : kzbin.info/www/bejne/qnncY5d8eNpklc0 30% off on my LUT PACKS : www.mathieustern.com/luts

[@jordanezell5132]

Suggestion: buy an Intrepid bellows camera and convert it into a digital camera that takes high res photos and video.

[@DSLRguide]

this is my kind of video, not sure if I’d ever need to use wide aspect ratio camcorder footage, but nice to know it’s possible

[@MathieuStern]

Shooting a narrative video like that could be pretty wild

[@Suko120]

it looks like a cinematic home video

[@WaltechYT]

Man was not expecting to see you here! One of my favorite KZbinrs! Been a fan a long time, especially loved the videos you made for making things on a budget. Like that wonderful short film you made with that cheap JVC camcorder and the boom mic. You inspired me in my videos for years.

[@VinOnline]

Love your channel mate

[@uniworkhorse]

This is so trippy, I'm so used to people cropping old archival footage for dramatic effect that I've associated widescreen VHS footage as a post-production gimmick. Seeing it done all in-camera is a huge contrast knowing you can shove so much more into the sensor!

[@FLOWIMSTUDIO]

Haha "sensor" haha :)

[@Fedorevsky]

lol@@FLOWIMSTUDIO

[@RabFinebeau]

@@FLOWIMSTUDIO I don't know why you find it funny but this camcorder has a CCD sensor.

[@davisfan]

I photographed a movie last year, and we used some scenes on an old camcorder. Beautiful experience! Most was shot on a Sony Alpha with Zeiss ZF lenses (still love them), but the director and I really wanted to have that sort of gradation of textures. There was a plain sequence we made with an IPhone, and a couple shots on an old 5d. I love analog, but I think digital has had a history of its own, and I'm very fond of it. I have VHS tapes of my childhood, my first dog, my parents together... I have some phone pictures of my second dog and my teen friends, and now I have a million pictures of my nephew with two different A7r. And just to keep this nostalgic voyage kicking on - your shots reminded me of my early days watching art movies. I got to see Jancso's 'the round up' on a wide-screen VHS circa 2005, among some other classics. This video made me remember the colors, the textures, the way 640 pixels interpreted 35mm film. Thank you!

[@Meandmypc12]

06:20 it is so trippy to see the adapter, surely it can be made into an artistic decision to include it

[@MaxRomantschuk]

I'd love to see color graded footage in the next video. The washed out look of an old camcorder is a style on it's own, but I'm curious what slapping a suitable LUT on top would do!

[@lucasvivante8988]

A lut. On a camcorder. It's not log 10 bit footage...

[@camilo0]

​@@lucasvivante8988 so what? You can still color grade it, just limited by the bit depth

[@LadySalemRaven]

you would be hardly able to adjust tint let alone color grade haha @@camilo0

[@lucasvivante8988]

@@camilo0 yeh sure but it's not what a lut is for. It's a color space transformation. Color grading 8bit footage with a lut is pointless. Btw luts are tools to get close to a picutre you like, not a magic formula to get amazing colors

[@MaxRomantschuk]

My comment wasn't really made in the assumption that using a LUT would make sense. The point was I am curious what kind of creative result one would get. I do understand the math behind the transformation well enough, so I won't br arguing about bit depths or if it makes sense or not. 😁

[@jordanezell5132]

Idea, take an analog bellows camera and convert it into a video camera!

[@ohmwai]

Sounds expensive, but i'd watch.

[@MathieuStern]

I used a analog bellows lens and adapted it on my Sony : kzbin.info/www/bejne/hmeXpqKna55gaK8

[@glorphindale]

Media Division YT channel did something like this, trying to get a very low f-number.

[@ohmwai]

@@MathieuStern amazing. and the music choice is perfect as well.

[@TrueCA7777]

wasn't there someone who used a scanner as a sensor for a large format camera? That would need another try. A4 large format digital photography sound badass.

[@ThePhantomofYT101]

Idk why but this just fills me with unreasonable happiness

[@themichaelgraeme]

6:07 This framing is really cool. It gives me an idea for a short film... --- Jacquie: "Your father wanted you to have this." *Jacquie pulls out a rusty, metal contraption from deep within a chest. She brushes its sides a couple times before handing it to Thomas.* Thomas: "What is it?" Jacquie: "Well, it's... Think of a happy memory. Something you did or a place you wish you could revisit." *Thomas is reluctant but eventually closes his eyes.* Jacquie: "Now imagine what's around you. Where are you? Who's around you? What is the wind doing? The trees? *Beat* Jacquie: "Once you have that, place this up to your eyes and see for yourself." *Thomas opens his eyes and peers into a dark void. A faint image emerges and a montage of Thomas's childhood memories begins. The camera zooms in slowly to fill the frame. Life and its problems fade away as Thomas sees his father grow old once again.* *Montage ends* *The camera cuts to Thomas pulling the device down from his eyes. A tear rolls down his cheek.* Thomas: "Hey, dad."

[@twilightcitystudios]

I'm glad to see other people also saw that shot at 6:07 as having potential oppurtunity. I didn't come up with an idea as in depth as yours. I just saw that it was possible to do and I didn't it a bad thing the first I thought was what could I do with something like this? You went to extra step and came up with an idea. I was thinking of maybe an idea of someone being trapped or seeing a vision or seeing the world a certain way, but you put a story to it I didn't yet. lol Overall I think when someone like that happens it's cool to wonder what can be done with it. :)

[@fulltimefilmmaker]

Great Video! Very Creative!

[@amermeleitor]

Hi Mathieu, I wonder if there was people that have talked to you about your gear in the streets, parks, etc. Sometimes happen when a photographer with vintage equipment is taking shots, people start asking with curiosity, sometimes other photographers, old people, childs, etc.

[@MathieuStern]

yea, it happens all the time, most people ask nice questions, and old photographers stop me to stay they used the same camera back in the day. Sometimes it's less nice when they stop you from working to ask silly questions, but most of the time it is a nice conversation

[@petergivenbless900]

The softness of video gives the images a very dream-like quality.

[@noth606]

heh, severe lack of sensor pixels, it's somewhere below or at 576i essentially, if my memory serves me, craptastic analog CVBS composite capture to whatever the digitization was done at, then desqueeze for the anamorphic. My guess is it was binned up to 4k to not loose any of what little info there was, before desqueeze. Easy enough to replicate, should you have the irrational urge to do so, I'll stick to my digital cams. I have an old DVCAM if I knock my head and feel the need to sort of replicate this in hardware, I can skip most steps and just knock down the quality with filters in post.

[@TinLeadHammer]

The test footage - is this a digitized video off tape, or direct tapeless feed into a digital box?

[@101wonderment]

This feels like a dreamy dream you never want to wake up from. A beautiful vision from far far time where everything is just perfect.

[@sembalo1776]

very cool! pretty nice that the camera had threads on the lens aswell. and honestly with the longer 2x adapter it actually looks pretty neat when fully zoomed out, i could see some use cases for that

[@appleslayer3337]

I LOVE the way you structured this video, truly beautiful, and I haven't even gotten to the anamorphic part yet! Keep up the awesome work, you might have just earned a new subscriber! :-)

[@ftlbaby]

The footage from the 2x adapter is damn cool even though it was misaligned.

[@MathieuStern]

yea, it was, but it's so hard put this in your backpack and to transport it without it not moving on the ring at all. I will do better next time

[@SeanCC]

@@MathieuStern when shooting anamorphic on the go I found it helpful to have a little high intensity LED of some kind to do spot "flare checks" that would show any alignment issues and allow for quick adjustment.

[@aengusmacnaughton1375]

Awesome -- and that simple baseband video digitizer works pretty well. Can't wait to see the full cinematic VHS productions!!!

[@VietinghoffAlex]

I've wanted to get a 2x anamorphic adapter for awhile, but all my cameras only have 16:9 sensor modes. Then I just realized I have a MiniDV camera that does 4:3 natively, haha. Thanks!!

[@zenitpro]

Wow, I just totally love it - we have this love for vintage gear in common. I have not one, but two camcorders (which are not working, BTW) and a Mini-DV camcorder too. I love that look and feel they offer, and I even bought a capture card just to have the pleasure of converting the videos to digital format. I strongly recommend you that you hook you camera up to a CRT TV and really appreciate the magic. It looks OK on modern screens, but watching it on CRT is just glorious.

[@appleslayer3337]

5:31 OK... This is just about the most awesome thing I've seen this year. No joke.

[@lucashardy5612]

That's my favorite shot also- so cool with the bird!

[@Bkoded]

its wild how good anamorphic video can make a camera look

[@TheNathanMChannel]

My parents bought a VHS camcorder in 1988. We had a TON of fun with it, but I am more than happy to leave the crappy video quality behind. It was a major novelty then and the style of videos people made back then is SO different, I have not seen much on KZbin which reminds me of that time. It's not just the camera tech, it's the attitudes people had about being on video and what they shot video of.

[@ZachMayfield]

I see my thumbnail at the beginning! Great vid man

[@MathieuStern]

You are the inspiration

[@skyshorrchannel3474]

Good one! This is why you stay so popular.... I already imagine film makers using such inserts.

[@steveswm7742]

Somehow, even brand new footage from a camera like this still makes me feel nostalgic.

[@thorstenjaspert9394]

That is stunning. All hobby filmers of the 80h dreamed about filming in a cinematic aspect ratio. By desqueezing you loose horizontal resolution.The video aspect ratio is 4:3. If you want to youse for a remembering in your Projek,t it looks better. The blurry resolution makes the typical VHS style. ❤

[@SweetLouPhotography]

I don't think it's a coincidence that in a video where my face pops up, there's also Doom footage lol. But dude these results are pretty sick. Love the idea!!

[@TSGEnt]

I have a couple of vintage camcorders as well. I haven't adapted anamorphic lenses to them yet, but what a great look. Thanks for experimenting!

[@MathieuStern]

Thanks for watching!

[@mattiaarigliano2992]

Just a few days ago, I found practically the same camcorder (VX-27) in my garage. The battery was dead, but plugging it directly worked perfectly. I probably have tapes for it in some random shelf

[@Chips-Lab]

Trop bien ! merci pour la vidéo Mathieu, très interessant pour mixer avec du 16:9 classique

[@fty-ys4ni]

Most, if not all, DV camcorders were capable of recording in Standard Definition in either 4:3 or 16:9 per your choosing in the settings. I know because I have one. I purposely record in 4:3 anyway because thats kind of the novelty with these old cameras. If your camera is old enough to record analog on VHS-C or Hi8 tapes, I’m almost positive this isn’t the case. Later and more advanced versions of DV also could record in 16:9 if you wanted. It’s all about which camera you have. And there are DV camcorders that have interchangeable lenses. I understand budget is a concern, but another thing to consider with DV is avoiding these clunky “hacks” to bypass recording to the tape. Then if you wanted to dive deeper, the capturing method and preserving the integrity of the original tape file is a conversation in and of itself.

[@stevesoprano8113]

What a wonderful and creative idea, the result is weirdly gorgeous and nostalgic! I love it

[@mikedmalott]

Sweet stuff!! I really love seeing Versailles in the winter with that setup.

[@Thatguy-h1l]

Hello! Love the video. I’m also in this niche side of video recording. Was wondering if you could spell out the 2x adapter used for the cinescope mentioned at 5:29 or perhaps put a link. It’s not labeled and I’m hard hearing plus the subtitles don’t work that great.

[@idkanymore3382]

Anamorphic is my favorite look on the planet, thanks!

[@Evildandalo]

Seeing the cinemascope footage literally blew my mind. I've been shooting tapeless on Hi8, VHSC, as well as mini dv forever and dealing with the 4:3 footage in modern times has been tricky. Your solution is incredibly elegant. I'd love to see it on a Hi8XR Sony or a 3CCD camera like the PD-150, something with more resolution would help retain some sharpness.

[@AltCine]

This is so cool 😁 well done man, I love stuff like this.

[@MathieuStern]

More to come!

[@sadgesidney4009]

The natural screen-tearing/encoding rips are actually kinda dope.

[@imDonDiestro]

Love experiments like this. Working camcorders are ridiculously easy to find in the US lol.

[@armenberenson1701]

Very cool, but a good workaround might be to simply shoot at a wider FOV (on film or simply at a suitable resolution) and then crop to the desired aspect ratio. Definitely can't fake those flares and the characteristic cinematic compression, though. Great work and very creative. I love how you combine your knowledge of technology and visual art.

[@cementinquentin]

This was fun. I wonder if people will be equally nostalgic for today’s tech in 2054.

[@danielromashov92]

So warm to my heart sound of awakening of a VHS camcorder...

[@Uhfgood]

I've got an old sony handi-cam, as far as I know it was still working the last time I used it, but I haven't used it in years and years, so I'd have to see if the batteries still charged.

[@ErnestoMantaras]

At 4:06 that's not an anamorphic flare, that's a classic CCD artifact, a vertical streak. That happens every time you have a very bright source of light in your footage (and it can happen with reflections as well). Anamorphic flares are usually horizontal. About your digitizing process (and apart from that device probably yielding pretty compressed files) you might want to double check whether or not you're getting all of the information, as many of these deinterlace the footage by stripping away one field. If processed correctly, you should end up with interlaced files, 60i for NTSC and 50i for PAL, that then easily translate to 60 and 50 fps footage respectively. Maybe you decided to edit these by lowering the frame rate, which is fair, but part of the appeal of this video format is the higher frame rate. 60/50 fps is closer to what these should look like on a progressive screen. I'd recommend getting a good scaler with genlock, like the Retrotink 5X, or one of Canopus capture solutions, for example (which might be tricky to use on modern PCs, though it can be done). Love the idea of shooting anamorphic VHS, by the way, really cool.

[@ChristopherGHope]

Cool video! I've been putting together a similar rig using an old Canon XL2 with anamorphic lens from SLR Magic and a digital recorder from Datavideo. This was my dream camera back in the day and I'm excited to finally test it soon. I'll look forward to your next video. Thanks!

[@dylannolan7454]

Wow, what a cool idea, I love the footage from this combo.

[@randomdoodles]

The adaptor barrel shot was cool.... fantastic and interesting video... thanks

[@Agills-Photography]

OMG BEEN WAITING FOR THIS VIDEO!!!

[@TheFilmFinesse]

The footage reminds me of my childhood! So cool! I would love to see a short film or music video shot with this setup 😁

[@nenoman3855]

I wonder if you can color correct (or even color grade) the footage. Can you even adjust the contrast, saturation, and white balance in-camera?

[@MathieuStern]

In camera you can adjust WB but thats all, in post you can color grade but it's going to be basic

[@nenoman3855]

@@MathieuStern that's gonna be a challenge then. I guess you could play with some lens filters like a polarizer to claw back a bit of detail.

[@vanillagorilla8696]

What is the song playing in the background during the 1993 movie montage?

[@t-money561]

its like a trip back to the 80's

[@nigelianzamora]

This is such a cool idea. I don't think I would have ever thought of this. Well done. God bless!

[@MathieuStern]

Glad you liked it!

[@tokelahti]

Why not miniDV and skip the analog-digital-conversion?

[@zahrashokri8215]

Sometimes I'm thinking you're a genius really 🔥🔥

[@gokhansakrak5762]

thanks to video, it brought back my memories. Yesterday I used my Sony CCD-TVR99E again; it still works after 25 years.

[@MathieuStern]

Great to hear!

[@martinwagnerproductions]

Hold up...I have a Sony DCR HC-32...Can I get an anamorphic lens and instead of 4:3 it will shoot in 16:9 full frame?

[@debasishnaiding8062]

Hi! Im going to buy a projection lens - a gold color kowa anamorphic projection lens, but its a 50 ft - 500 ft, will it work with helios 44m4 58mm lens?

[@LilWookiz]

That’s amazing, im specialised in analog video and never thought to do that on my camcorder 😮

[@saksvgm7919]

the vignette looks so sick

[@benmcreynolds8581]

This would be PERFECT for creating Liminal media or psychological horror type content

[@yakoublat02]

I love the enthusiasm!

[@alexmitchell1592]

Nice little zoom on that camcorder!

[@whatznew8008]

What’s the name of the vhs camera you bought?

[@KennlinBarlow]

You should try test it out on the Sony PD-150! I've just ordered a TRV900 (not sure if it'll work on that but maybe the 150 will be better)

[@PalKrammer]

From Panasonic's professional news division I bought a new AG-456UP S-VHS camcorder in 1999; it still works and I bought a new lead-acid battery for it last year. However, I also have an older, simpler, Sony Handycam 8mm and what happened to it a few years ago is that the rubber used in the cassette door-opening mechanism failed - so it's stuck open. In the case of camcorders, I worry more about the mechanical aspects than I do about the electronics.

[@debranchelowtone]

C'est intéressant, depuis un mois j'expérimente de l'anamorphique en 4K sur un appareil moderne. Sirui fait de bons objectifs à des prix abordables. Et je me demandais justement s'il était possible d'adapter une telle chose sur des caméscopes anciens.

[@ravvvvvv]

i dont understand how you get a different aspect ratio with the same square sensor :/

[@hzubovi1]

Have you ever tried to pair anamorphic adapter and fisheye lens?

[@MathieuStern]

Not yet !

[@hzubovi1]

Well I know back in the day there were some fisheye adapters You could put on fixed lenses of camcorders, so I was just wondering if You could put one of those adapters at the front of this contraption You've made. I always wondered how fisheye would look in wide anamorhic scope since it is a very circular lens

[@fuerstfunk]

Hey, how U managed to attach the lens? I have an hi 8 camcorder withe 37mm thread mount and I did't find a way to connect. Any ideas?

[@MathieuStern]

I explained everything in the video , maybe watch it again I show the rings and the process

[@MePeterNicholls]

It has a great aesthetic!

[@roodick85]

I see so many of these old cameras at the thrift stores for sometimes 5 dollars

[@david4563]

Super config ! Le rendu en 2x est chouette. Je me demande ce que ca pourrait donner sur une dvx100 avec du grain post prod.

[@Doudoudelamotte1902]

trop cool! bravo, la prochaine c'est les camera nocturnes avec lentilles anamorphiques ;)

[@iDealMedley]

The footage looks soo nostalgic. I'm getting emotional for no reason

[@schnellbratpfanne3606]

Maybe make a comparison: With Adapter and with just cropping to 16:9/21:9

[@best5-4-u-2-c4]

You mentioned the Blazar adapter but silent on the name of the second 2X adapter.

[@MathieuStern]

Kowa 16H I think I said it in the video

[@zsombor_99]

I have a "JVC Videomovie GR-AX-460E" VHS-C camcorder from my dad, it still works, but all the batteries are super dead ‒ luckily I have an adaptor what can be used instead of battery, it needs to be connected to the battery charger unit. I have the remote, too, It can do time-lapse as well with much-much lower quality than normal recording. 🙂 Sadly, the limiting factor is the dead batteries, which means I can use this camera only where it can be connected to the mains. 😐

[@AdamHansen95]

I’ve been wanting to put an anamorphic adapter on a film camera and take pictures on it forever

[@Hexus13th]

You can achieve this look with much less hassle and expense by piping any DSLR footage to the input of an old VCR then piping the output to PC. Assuming you didn't want to just do it post with filters.

[@ZvilgantisKailis]

I still have a working Canon HV20 camcorder which can shoot SD on miniDV tapes. I always was fighting to get rid off that video looking feel. Glad that video camcorder era went by.

[@wattana62]

Salut Mathieu, The big Issue here, is the RCA signal is crap (composite signal with the yellow RCA plug). But it's difficult to find a device able to record a full-RGB signal ; I'm confronted to the same problem with regular VHS, want to use the SCART signal (full RGB) to have the best image quality. Back then, there were video capture cards able to use a full-RGB signal, I've searched many times with no success. And pro services to digitialyze VHS are expensive

[@debranchelowtone]

Le signal signal d'une VHS est composite, donc même en sortant en Y/C ou YCrCb cela na va pas améliorer grand chose. Avec la SCART le signal va sortir en composite aussi. La seule façon d'améliorer le système c'est d'utiliser un caméscope SVHS ou Hi-8 avec les cassettes qui vont avec. Dans ce cas le signal est en Y/C et l'image est plus détaillée. Il faut aussi désentrelacer correctement, ce qui n'a pas été fait ici.

[@wattana62]

Eh bien merci pour l'info ! La péritel et le RVB ayant été une obligation en France, je pensais que le signal l'était nécessairement aussi ; et comme je m'en sers avec les consoles de jeux vidéo rétro qui utilisent vraiment le RVB... j'ai une sacro-sainte horreur du RCA jaune. Du coup, j'ai un peu recherché sur le net des infos et vraiment surpris d'apprendre que les VHS / VHS C / Vidéo 8 utilisent la technologie composite. Effectivement, dans le cas de Matthieu alors, il aurait mieux fait de partir sur du S-VHS / HI-8 (enfin si possible pour lui) C'est cool d'apprendre ça.

[@thorstenjaspert9394]

S-VHS would increase the quality. But S-VHS gears were sold at the premium price level. The numbers of sold devices were rare. To find working gear is the problem. Isn't it?

[@mastenas]

It's amazing how a simple camera sensor converts today into the past, it's a weird feeling to know that the images were generated in the current year, I wonder someday we will have a technology that converts VHS images into modern images, just to have a different perspective of the past, can you imagine if we could see footage from 1990 looking like it was recorded today.

[@SinaFarhat]

Nice! Interesting issue to find a working old tape camera as I suspect that repairing these old camcorders is a hard thing because of the electronic components. I have an old sony super 8 camera that uses an infolithium battery that last time I turned It on worked great and the battery even held a charge but I suspect that finding a compatible infolithium battery nowadays can be an issue! Keep up the good work!

[@thorstenjaspert9394]

You have to find a working tape. They haven't been manufacturers for decades. That's an issue, too

[@SamSilk]

Enorme! Tu as testé sur une caméra super8?

[@gabbo13]

This is a good stuff to shoot, not putting a filter or LUT for Instagram.

[@Markers59]

En vrai sa peut être cool quand on a pas de budget : )

[@ankays2186]

Loved the content, subscribing ❤

[@333_studios]

This is a really useful aspect ratio changer. It’s almost like a focal length reducer/speedbooster. However, imo it adds almost nothing to the image itself.

[@yames]

Wow! This is so cool! I want to try it out! Haha

[@lukaaaaaaaAAAAĀĀĀĀĀ-b7n]

Id love to see you adapt lenses onto a floppy disk camera

[@Crlarl]

I'd love to try this on my HV30.

[@R.L.Kramer]

Oh I have several mini DVs, mini VHS and a hi 8 that work with batteries.

[@HYPERION_ART]

You should definitely try to put it on a gimbal

[@AimShootDevelop]

This is so well done! I love camcorder footage and this video was a treat to watch 🫶🏽

[@MathieuStern]

Glad you liked it!!

[@serkanonf]

This camera is a time machine everything turnings back to 90s.

[@GeorgianBoy-c4d]

ITS BEATIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@ekisnaar]

For once "n years ago" felt exactly where it's supposed to be in the timeline. Also the video in general was great.

[@debranchelowtone]

You can deinterlace 50i to 50p with this system.