So do I I wish I hadn't sold mine. I got caught up in the let's go digital craze back in the late 90s and wasn't using my much because I was doing a lot of long-form recording. Please concerts weddings. The problem was the 30 minute tape load was too short and people would get annoyed with the clunk clunk clunk clack changing tapes in the middle of some religious ceremony. We get the stink eye more than once having to change tapes right in the middle of a long wedding. So I was shooting height for those productions with an evw 300 which is essentially the same camera but with a high eight recorder. When the professional DV gear came out I jumped and bought a JVC gydv 500. Speaking of my JVC dv500 I'm sure it's not working because it's been sitting for a while so maybe I'll put that one up do a service on it get it running and then do a shoot-off tape between this beta cam and the JVC. Now of course once pal and the other is ntsc so in order to match shots I'm going to have to convert one or the other so that's going to give an unfair advantage
@@12voltvids sure, they were the bones of the office, but they gave a lot of history to tell and is nostalgia, which I find interesting and hj be able to understand much more than actually happened, and at the time there was no access to so much information.
@@hkansler the betacam was Sony's raised middle finger to the VHS companies. They were the international standard for field production for over 30 years and even today they are still being used for smaller market stations
@@12voltvids I just bought a DVW-700 (which is full DigiBeta, very similar chassis to this) and the capstan motor does not rotate when unthreading, so it eats the tape because the take-up spool doesn't turn. I can trick it into threading without a tape and I did trick it into "recording" for a few seconds, and the capstan motor does turn when playing/recording, but it doesn't spin when loading or unloading. Is it an electrical problem or something mechanical?
Our media department still uses Digibeta but the HDcam-SR for recording company promotional videos. Even the first generation cameras we had years ago produced some awesome looking video.. the hd ones record at something crazy like 800mbit/s datarate in rgb 4:4:4
*Do remember that the British PAL offers a higher picture resolution then NTSC horizontally, PAL comes with 625 lines of resolution, whereas NTSC has 525 only. More lines can provide better quality 😊👍*
@@UHF43 Yep; that is true. Although I suspect the spatial resolution will be more noticeable than the temporal resolution. Also, both NTCS and PAL are interlaced formats, so the fields are refreshed at twice the framerate; so you won't get the more noticeable flicker of a progressive frame.
Horizontal and vertical resolution does. Vertical resolution is the active number of scanning lines. On ntsc that's 480 on pallets of 576. 48 more lines per active field as 288 lines per field for pal versus 240 for ntsc. That's the field resolution. is made up by the bandwidth available and both can deliver fantastic resolution on a closed circuit system using broadcast equipment such as this. Both can support upwards of 900 lines or greater some black and white closed circuit cameras did over a thousand lines of horizontal resolution over coax but still only had 480 active lines. It's the horizontal resolution but really makes a difference. Now this was limited by the broadcast standard because on ntsc the audio carrier was at 4.5 MHz which meant that the video had to roll off at approximately 4.2 MHz maximum otherwise the video carrier would cause buzz on the audio carrier. In different countries they used different audio carrier frequencies some at 5.6 MHz summit 6.5 I think there was even some as high as seven megahertz. This extra bandwidth available to the video greatly improve the over-the-air broadcast resolution. Now let's move to home video for a minute because on VHS and beta for that matter ntse range supreme in terms of picture quality. Why is that well the spinning head drum is keyed to the scanning frequency 60 HZ versus 50 HZ. On the pal system the Head drum is spinning slower than on ntsc and we all know that the Head drum speed translates into the writing speed on the tape. The faster the drum spins the faster the relative speed between the head and the tape and this determines the maximum frequencies that can be recorded on the tape. This is why VHS machines could record approximately 240 lines of resolution on the ntsc system and betamax could record approximately 260 lines. the beta system had a little bit larger drum which translated into a faster writing speed. This is also why beta Hi-Fi did not require a second set of heads and azimuth recording that VHS needed to do because there was enough speed and enough bandwidth that they could put the audio carriers between the chroma and the lower side band for the video portion of the signal. Pal VHS on the other hand was barely capable of recording 200 lines of resolution even though they had $488 active lines the horizontal resolution was only about 200 lines versus ntsc which recorded 480 active lines but had a horizontal resolution of approximately 240. Now when you're talking to broadcast camera like this there really isn't much of a difference if you look at the signal on a broadcast monitor. A camera like this however has no need for an S-Video out because the chroma carrier is higher in frequency and therefore does not cause mutual interference to the same degree as it did with ntsc because of the overlapping signals. So on this camera the analog output is composite only.
Something I just liked about the old mechanical/optical lenses. Bummer it is PAL, but you can't get a winner every time. Thanks for the journey back 25 years.
@@12voltvids yes I never gave that a thought they wouldn’t get much juice from a rotary transformer. I am now looking for one of these cams it would be nice to see the difference between my dsr500sp and a betacam. I have in my to do pile a sx dnw a220p but I don’t have the psu it draws about 6amps x2 . I have the broadcast bug now
I know that on the lower end camcorders the picture stability was poor when the camera was moved about too much. I guess with a high end camcorder it is quite a bit more stable, especially as it's digital. Is that right? Do you know if it uses image stabilising circuitry?
Very interesting stuff! I know next to nothing about pro video stuff. Would there have been different mic attachment/gaffer pole things for a unit like this, or would a gaffer have used a separate recorder?
There were plenty of options including a dual channel wireless receiver that recorded in channel 3 and 4, plus the camera mic. 2 external inputs on back too.
It's interesting how it seems to lace up with an M format, similar to VHS, rather than using a U format loading ring that one usually finds in Beta format machines.
Dang, we would've loved to have had one-a those back in the day. We do have a few old Betamovie camcorders but their batteries have long since died. Oh, well...
The digi beta tape formulation would probably be more abrassive and that's why the camera rejected the digi beta cassette. It's just not meant to be used with the sx system and would wear out the heads prematurely.
Just saw the whole video. Completely forgot the holes detection trick. So it can records on digibeta tape too. Betacam sp was the most abrasive metal tape at the time. And that metal particles formula was somehow instable. I remember AMPEX recommended 40% humidity for archive betacam sp tapes. That was insane as nobody has conditions for such low humidity archive room.
Moore has to do with the load of tape. If you look inside it digibeta tape it's actually quite a bit shorter because the tape runs at a different speed. Anyway it's obvious that tape was recorded on that camera because I don't think the SX camera can play back in digivated tape they're two different animals. Did you beta is 444 sampling in the SX is 422 mpg. So I highly doubt that an SX camera will play digivated tape. And since it played the recording that was on the tape it's pretty obvious that the recording was made on that camera.
Nice camera I have a Sony 8mm camera I bought from Goodwill in really good shape the date on it was from 1997 it's the hifi ver not sure the exact terms. It plays and records really well The only problem is that the function switch on the top left is finicky I have to turn a certain way for Vtr or Camera mode to work.
Looking forward to next one! I know we all like the simplicity of a dvi format and later the phone camera storing on solid state but go out to a tourist attraction with one of those and most will assume you’re a Pro. They were the dogs of gear and generally far too expensive for most like me.
I might add that while I've been out using my FDR AX100 I've been asked if I had a permit to shoot. It's a small camera but it's larger than most handicams and with the big industrial tripod that I use it makes it look even more professional. A number of years ago I was doing a video where I was on camera speaking to the camera called introduction to time lapse where I was showing how to set up a still camera to do time lapse and how to assemble the frames on the computer to turn still photos into a time-lapse movie. I was down at the beach setting up away from where any tourists were where any beach goers were because I was shooting clouds in the sky at a parks guy come up to me and demanded to see my permit to film in the park.
I got questioned why I was in some shops carrying a pro camera. At the end of the day I was shopping with friends and didn't want to leave it unguarded in the car. Later on I wished I'd said I was from the prices surveillance authority
@@CameraTim-DAMMITDOTcom Yes, just to spook them! Every time Dave does a Project on something interesting, I look on ebay and the prices either are through the roof or theres nothing going in the UK! That Canadian Tech Guy has cost me thousands over the years ive been following him, as he tells me about suff ive never seen or heard of - the Sony DVP for one- and stuff i remember, but couldnt afford when it was out in the 70's...! Bless him!
Because that would make too much sense and you know the cost of that little plastic gear right that would break the bank. When you're talking a camera that's 20 or $30,000 they go the extra mile. Basically what that was for was not so much of the camera broke down but if the camera man was out the field and he was shooting and he ran his battery spot and they didn't have another battery he gets back to the station and they need to get on the air and rather than look for another battery or power supply they could just pop that little cover open spin the tape out and then the tape would go in the edit machine and they can get it to air that much faster
Pal is better than NTSC Lol . Well it would be here in the uk . I still think you got an interesting camera. I don’t know how much you paid but these do seem quite pricey compared to dv cam. I bet the pictures will be good.
Yes the pictures will be a lot better than DV cam or any DV format for that matter because DV encodes in color space, and this depends on whether you're talking ntsc or pal. Ntsc encoded color space 4:1:1 and pal 4:2:0. This camera and codes color space 4:2:2. This means it has twice the resolution in the chroma signal as DV. The limited signal is the same. It is using a temporal format mpg2 unlike DV and DV cam which used an Mjpeg type encoding. DV used fixed compression and compressed each frame as an entire image using 5 to 1 compression resulting in a bit rate of 25 megabits. Mini DV, professional DV, and dvcam use exactly the same encoding as did digital 8. Betacam SX records it to bit rate of only 18 megabits however because it's using a longer GOP and temporal compression much less bandwidth is required so the 18 MB actually encodes much more information than the fixed compression of DV. So picture quality wise it should be a lot better and also the fact that being a pal camera there's 576 active lines per frame versus 480 for ntsc. So for standard definition it is going to look Superior. I'm going to hook it up to a battery and make some recordings and I will capture it as a pal signal using my capture card at maximum bandwidth. I intend to take it out and do just a little bit of recording with it so we can see how good it looks and I'll edit and upload as a pal format to UA-cam because it will play on your computer no problem. I'm also going to try plugging it into my newer LCD television and see whether it can display pal I know my old plasma cannot it just rolls but the newer television might display a picture. My multi-system little CRT set certainly will but I haven't dragged that one out of the storage unit yet. I didn't pay a lot of money for the camera it's not like I got suckered in and paid thousands of dollars like people advertise these things for on eBay. I was just reading an article that a friend sent me about eBay now going to nail people for taxes I can see eBay sales taking huge hits when people start having to pay a whole bunch of tax for selling on eBay same with Amazon marketplace. It's about time these greedy sellers had to pay their way
Mein alter Toshiba LCD TV von 2009 macht PAL/60, SECAM und NTSC3.58/4.43. Aber no Color bei PAL-N und PAL-M. Testet mit Respberry Pi 3 B und dem Programm TweakVec.py
Hello viewers......it's time to watch BETA Brain Surgery by Doctor Dave. I bet if you walk around the shop BAREFOOTED for the next couple days....you will find that tiny screw you dropped earlier. Talk about cramped techno design. No comparison to working under the hood of a Mercedes. Thanks Dr. Dave
@@12voltvids It must be your magnetic personality bro. Now you can rest assured that the camera is a worthwhile investment....and all parts included. Can't wait to see your video footage over the next several days. Don't you hate it when formats change and tech becomes obsolete !
this camera is amazing tecnology, only persons like you to understand how repair any problems. congrats, I love betacams.
So do I I wish I hadn't sold mine. I got caught up in the let's go digital craze back in the late 90s and wasn't using my much because I was doing a lot of long-form recording. Please concerts weddings. The problem was the 30 minute tape load was too short and people would get annoyed with the clunk clunk clunk clack changing tapes in the middle of some religious ceremony. We get the stink eye more than once having to change tapes right in the middle of a long wedding. So I was shooting height for those productions with an evw 300 which is essentially the same camera but with a high eight recorder. When the professional DV gear came out I jumped and bought a JVC gydv 500. Speaking of my JVC dv500 I'm sure it's not working because it's been sitting for a while so maybe I'll put that one up do a service on it get it running and then do a shoot-off tape between this beta cam and the JVC. Now of course once pal and the other is ntsc so in order to match shots I'm going to have to convert one or the other so that's going to give an unfair advantage
@@12voltvids sure, they were the bones of the office, but they gave a lot of history to tell and is nostalgia, which I find interesting and hj be able to understand much more than actually happened, and at the time there was no access to so much information.
@@hkansler the betacam was Sony's raised middle finger to the VHS companies. They were the international standard for field production for over 30 years and even today they are still being used for smaller market stations
@@12voltvids I just bought a DVW-700 (which is full DigiBeta, very similar chassis to this) and the capstan motor does not rotate when unthreading, so it eats the tape because the take-up spool doesn't turn. I can trick it into threading without a tape and I did trick it into "recording" for a few seconds, and the capstan motor does turn when playing/recording, but it doesn't spin when loading or unloading. Is it an electrical problem or something mechanical?
Our media department still uses Digibeta but the HDcam-SR for recording company promotional videos. Even the first generation cameras we had years ago produced some awesome looking video.. the hd ones record at something crazy like 800mbit/s datarate in rgb 4:4:4
*Do remember that the British PAL offers a higher picture resolution then NTSC horizontally, PAL comes with 625 lines of resolution, whereas NTSC has 525 only. More lines can provide better quality 😊👍*
It's a trade off. NTSC has lower spatial resolution (fewer lines) but higher temporal resolution (more frames).
@@UHF43 Yep; that is true. Although I suspect the spatial resolution will be more noticeable than the temporal resolution. Also, both NTCS and PAL are interlaced formats, so the fields are refreshed at twice the framerate; so you won't get the more noticeable flicker of a progressive frame.
@@UHF43 *More frames does NOT give a sharper picture 😊*
You certainly do see the flicker. I can see it in the viewfinder clearly.
Horizontal and vertical resolution does. Vertical resolution is the active number of scanning lines. On ntsc that's 480 on pallets of 576. 48 more lines per active field as 288 lines per field for pal versus 240 for ntsc. That's the field resolution. is made up by the bandwidth available and both can deliver fantastic resolution on a closed circuit system using broadcast equipment such as this. Both can support upwards of 900 lines or greater some black and white closed circuit cameras did over a thousand lines of horizontal resolution over coax but still only had 480 active lines. It's the horizontal resolution but really makes a difference. Now this was limited by the broadcast standard because on ntsc the audio carrier was at 4.5 MHz which meant that the video had to roll off at approximately 4.2 MHz maximum otherwise the video carrier would cause buzz on the audio carrier. In different countries they used different audio carrier frequencies some at 5.6 MHz summit 6.5 I think there was even some as high as seven megahertz. This extra bandwidth available to the video greatly improve the over-the-air broadcast resolution. Now let's move to home video for a minute because on VHS and beta for that matter ntse range supreme in terms of picture quality. Why is that well the spinning head drum is keyed to the scanning frequency 60 HZ versus 50 HZ. On the pal system the Head drum is spinning slower than on ntsc and we all know that the Head drum speed translates into the writing speed on the tape. The faster the drum spins the faster the relative speed between the head and the tape and this determines the maximum frequencies that can be recorded on the tape. This is why VHS machines could record approximately 240 lines of resolution on the ntsc system and betamax could record approximately 260 lines. the beta system had a little bit larger drum which translated into a faster writing speed. This is also why beta Hi-Fi did not require a second set of heads and azimuth recording that VHS needed to do because there was enough speed and enough bandwidth that they could put the audio carriers between the chroma and the lower side band for the video portion of the signal. Pal VHS on the other hand was barely capable of recording 200 lines of resolution even though they had $488 active lines the horizontal resolution was only about 200 lines versus ntsc which recorded 480 active lines but had a horizontal resolution of approximately 240. Now when you're talking to broadcast camera like this there really isn't much of a difference if you look at the signal on a broadcast monitor. A camera like this however has no need for an S-Video out because the chroma carrier is higher in frequency and therefore does not cause mutual interference to the same degree as it did with ntsc because of the overlapping signals. So on this camera the analog output is composite only.
Something I just liked about the old mechanical/optical lenses. Bummer it is PAL, but you can't get a winner every time. Thanks for the journey back 25 years.
Pal doesn't matter because when converted to 720p it looks better than the 480 version as pal had 560 active scanning lines.
Hi Dave, I'm not 100 percent sure but you may be able to change it to NTSC in the menu.
Dave, did you notice what co. made the audio XLR connector? A Canon, of course. haha
I had a camcorder. I put black tape over the red light so nobody would know I was taking a video.
Interesting Sony video!
*But they must have seen you carrying that huge thing on your shoulder ....unless they were blind 😐*
sure..we need the demo from this camera in this channel
Soon.
Sure could do with your help at the moment , ive just been handed 30 + vhs- dvd recorders to repair , all faulty .
Just noticed is that slip rings on the drum like early reel to reel video . Also those chips on that drum must get dizzy spinning
Power for the chips no doubt.
@@12voltvids yes I never gave that a thought they wouldn’t get much juice from a rotary transformer. I am now looking for one of these cams it would be nice to see the difference between my dsr500sp and a betacam. I have in my to do pile a sx dnw a220p but I don’t have the psu it draws about 6amps x2 . I have the broadcast bug now
I know that on the lower end camcorders the picture stability was poor when the camera was moved about too much. I guess with a high end camcorder it is quite a bit more stable, especially as it's digital. Is that right? Do you know if it uses image stabilising circuitry?
No image stabalization. It's heavy that helps with stability. This thing weighs with the lens about 10kg
very great video demo..i shoot in digital betacam ..this is first time is whats iside this camera..thank you
Very interesting stuff! I know next to nothing about pro video stuff. Would there have been different mic attachment/gaffer pole things for a unit like this, or would a gaffer have used a separate recorder?
There were plenty of options including a dual channel wireless receiver that recorded in channel 3 and 4, plus the camera mic. 2 external inputs on back too.
It's interesting how it seems to lace up with an M format, similar to VHS, rather than using a U format loading ring that one usually finds in Beta format machines.
Guess the M warp type could be made more compactly and with fewer moving parts.
More moving parts on this. This is how the betamovie laced up. I should haul out my old betamovie and see if i can get that running.
Dang, we would've loved to have had one-a those back in the day. We do have a few old Betamovie camcorders but their batteries have long since died. Oh, well...
Does a betacam sx works with a digital betacam tape ? I don’t think so. You need a betasx tape or a betacam sp to work with that camera.
The digi beta tape formulation would probably be more abrassive and that's why the camera rejected the digi beta cassette. It's just not meant to be used with the sx system and would wear out the heads prematurely.
Tape is tape. Digibeta used metal tape too you know. Just the detection holes on the bottom of the cassette.
Just saw the whole video. Completely forgot the holes detection trick. So it can records on digibeta tape too. Betacam sp was the most abrasive metal tape at the time. And that metal particles formula was somehow instable. I remember AMPEX recommended 40% humidity for archive betacam sp tapes. That was insane as nobody has conditions for such low humidity archive room.
Moore has to do with the load of tape. If you look inside it digibeta tape it's actually quite a bit shorter because the tape runs at a different speed. Anyway it's obvious that tape was recorded on that camera because I don't think the SX camera can play back in digivated tape they're two different animals. Did you beta is 444 sampling in the SX is 422 mpg. So I highly doubt that an SX camera will play digivated tape. And since it played the recording that was on the tape it's pretty obvious that the recording was made on that camera.
Nice camera I have a Sony 8mm camera I bought from Goodwill in really good shape the date on it was from 1997 it's the hifi ver not sure the exact terms.
It plays and records really well The only problem is that the function switch on the top left is finicky I have to turn a certain way for Vtr or Camera mode to work.
Well this would have been probably 20 grand or more new. Unfortunately it is pal. Ok for UA-cam production. As computers can play anything
@@12voltvids Can you get a PAL to NTSC converter that should convert the signal to a usable one for your TV
@@richardkeith7571 converted video always looks like crap.
Looking forward to next one! I know we all like the simplicity of a dvi format and later the phone camera storing on solid state but go out to a tourist attraction with one of those and most will assume you’re a Pro. They were the dogs of gear and generally far too expensive for most like me.
Yes I used to get the looks when shooting video if my kids when little on one of these big brutes. Some would walk up and say where's the fire?
I might add that while I've been out using my FDR AX100 I've been asked if I had a permit to shoot. It's a small camera but it's larger than most handicams and with the big industrial tripod that I use it makes it look even more professional. A number of years ago I was doing a video where I was on camera speaking to the camera called introduction to time lapse where I was showing how to set up a still camera to do time lapse and how to assemble the frames on the computer to turn still photos into a time-lapse movie. I was down at the beach setting up away from where any tourists were where any beach goers were because I was shooting clouds in the sky at a parks guy come up to me and demanded to see my permit to film in the park.
I got questioned why I was in some shops carrying a pro camera. At the end of the day I was shopping with friends and didn't want to leave it unguarded in the car. Later on I wished I'd said I was from the prices surveillance authority
@@CameraTim-DAMMITDOTcom Yes, just to spook them! Every time Dave does a Project on something interesting, I look on ebay and the prices either are through the roof or theres nothing going in the UK! That Canadian Tech Guy has cost me thousands over the years ive been following him, as he tells me about suff ive never seen or heard of - the Sony DVP for one- and stuff i remember, but couldnt afford when it was out in the 70's...! Bless him!
25:01 why didn't they do that for ALL VCRs for that matter?
Because that would make too much sense and you know the cost of that little plastic gear right that would break the bank. When you're talking a camera that's 20 or $30,000 they go the extra mile. Basically what that was for was not so much of the camera broke down but if the camera man was out the field and he was shooting and he ran his battery spot and they didn't have another battery he gets back to the station and they need to get on the air and rather than look for another battery or power supply they could just pop that little cover open spin the tape out and then the tape would go in the edit machine and they can get it to air that much faster
Pal is better than NTSC Lol . Well it would be here in the uk . I still think you got an interesting camera. I don’t know how much you paid but these do seem quite pricey compared to dv cam. I bet the pictures will be good.
Yes the pictures will be a lot better than DV cam or any DV format for that matter because DV encodes in color space, and this depends on whether you're talking ntsc or pal. Ntsc encoded color space 4:1:1 and pal 4:2:0. This camera and codes color space 4:2:2. This means it has twice the resolution in the chroma signal as DV. The limited signal is the same. It is using a temporal format mpg2 unlike DV and DV cam which used an Mjpeg type encoding. DV used fixed compression and compressed each frame as an entire image using 5 to 1 compression resulting in a bit rate of 25 megabits. Mini DV, professional DV, and dvcam use exactly the same encoding as did digital 8. Betacam SX records it to bit rate of only 18 megabits however because it's using a longer GOP and temporal compression much less bandwidth is required so the 18 MB actually encodes much more information than the fixed compression of DV. So picture quality wise it should be a lot better and also the fact that being a pal camera there's 576 active lines per frame versus 480 for ntsc. So for standard definition it is going to look Superior. I'm going to hook it up to a battery and make some recordings and I will capture it as a pal signal using my capture card at maximum bandwidth. I intend to take it out and do just a little bit of recording with it so we can see how good it looks and I'll edit and upload as a pal format to UA-cam because it will play on your computer no problem. I'm also going to try plugging it into my newer LCD television and see whether it can display pal I know my old plasma cannot it just rolls but the newer television might display a picture. My multi-system little CRT set certainly will but I haven't dragged that one out of the storage unit yet. I didn't pay a lot of money for the camera it's not like I got suckered in and paid thousands of dollars like people advertise these things for on eBay. I was just reading an article that a friend sent me about eBay now going to nail people for taxes I can see eBay sales taking huge hits when people start having to pay a whole bunch of tax for selling on eBay same with Amazon marketplace. It's about time these greedy sellers had to pay their way
Where can I get these kinds of cameras?
Hi Dave. How much do you want for the camera?
Contact me via email if interested.
How is the sound quality on this unit?
16 bit uncompressed digital sound. CD quality. 4 channel sound.
Not compatible, I thought all modern TV's were multi standard.
Mein alter Toshiba LCD TV von 2009 macht PAL/60, SECAM und NTSC3.58/4.43. Aber no Color bei PAL-N und PAL-M. Testet mit Respberry Pi 3 B und dem Programm TweakVec.py
Not all are.
Hello viewers......it's time to watch BETA Brain Surgery by Doctor Dave. I bet if you walk around the shop BAREFOOTED for the next couple days....you will find that tiny screw you dropped earlier. Talk about cramped techno design. No comparison to working under the hood of a Mercedes. Thanks Dr. Dave
I found it. Magnets are great.
@@12voltvids It must be your magnetic personality bro. Now you can rest assured that the camera is a worthwhile investment....and all parts included. Can't wait to see your video footage over the next several days. Don't you hate it when formats change and tech becomes obsolete !
Too many circuit boards on that camera you got
It has a few doesn't it.