8mm video was commonly used for aircraft entertainment movie playing. They were played from a central VCR, and piped to individual seat back monitors or to drop down screens in the ceiling. The actual 8mm VCR was in an overhead compartment in the front galley, and the flight attendant would load and play the tapes. Sometimes the tapes were marked as OUTWARD or RETURN, so the flight attendant would know which movie to play if they were on an outward or return flight to the home airport.
I remembered flying in a B747-400 going back to 1990 that had in-flight movies which most likely were played off of an 8mm VCR. In-seat LCD screens wouldn't appear on planes until the 2000s, before that, larger aircraft like the 747 used CRT projectors. It was like a home theater in the sky. The sound would be piped to the in-seat headphones. The audio was mono, but allowed for dual languages (which meant the VCRs were most likely hi-fi stereo).
At least in economy class cabins, those drop-down screens were usually CRTs for small screens in the aisles, and a RGB projector for the projection screen in the middle, at least on a Qantas domestic flight I was on in 2010 which I think used an older Boeing aircraft from the 1980s or 1990s. The seat controls only had a selection of radio programmes, like different genres of music and sometimes even audiobooks and podcasts/radio shows, but the channel number 1 or 0 would've been the audio for the video that was playing on the screens, which were sometimes news earlier on in the flight, ans a movie later on.
Out-doors. I remember the out-doors, back in the before times. The big room with the blue ceiling. It had strange people and bad wifi and those big green things. The thermostat never worked properly.
In the early years, they had ONE video player and every a screen in the center isle where everyone watched the same movie. Then later, they had 2-4 video players and you could watch their selection on the seat-back entertainment system by selecting the correct channel. (either free or for a fee). No airline that I know of gave out personal 8mm players to passengers.
This was my very first camcorder, purchased in 1986 on "clearance" from a chain store called "Silo.' I took dozens of tapes of our kids with it and I still have it. Thanks for the review!
I have a late 1990's Hi8 VCR that has the same Beta wrap around type tape loading mechanism. Some 8MM camcorders don't even have this mechanism and it loads like a VHS tape. So thee are two type of mechanisms for 8MM to Digital 8 formats that all use the same tape cartridge.
Robbie Steel - this was a bit of an exaggeration on my part. However, if you’re listening through a Pro Logic sound system you should hear me in the central channel and ambient sound in the other channels. 😃
I worked in London gatwick airport for a while, Airside, and some of the aircraft had displays, and video players in the side of the seats, to watch the films.
This particular "Handycam" although I personally have never seen it be very handy was marketed to schools and worship centers as a tripod mounted semi professional way to record school plays worship services band concerts and etc. I know this because my school still used this all the way into the early 2010s... Yes, the 2010s... although my the time I was familiar with it, mind you my school had a sound recording booth and the A/V club was responsible for operation of the concert hall A/V equipment. If you wanted to operate any of the schools mediocre quality equipment you spent your freshman year, or first year in the club learning from the club seniors. I did the whole 4 years of high school in the A/V club with this baby thought by the time I got ahold of it we used the A/V out and recorded to a DVD recorder. And the mic in was used with an output from a sound board that was as old as Me. I however convinced the school district to get us a newer HD handycam with a firewire cable to an old computer lab computer. We still recorded to DVD but we were able to use the PC to live stream on the schools website. And I convinced the school district to allow us to archive the stream for posterity. Sadly the A/V club died with Me and My class in the early 2000s but the video camera was still used until the school decided to allow parents to record and stream in the early 2010s. Those damn smartphones. I think I might have a video of some band/orchestra concerts somewhere. Also the computer club was forced to close down the stream archive shortly after so I can't even link you to the schools website.
8mm tapes have a small red plastic switch at the bottom. When the switch is hidden it exposes a hole - this is the recording mode. When the red switch is pulled it covers the hole and the camcorder cannot record on the cassette - safe mode to keep you from erasing previous recordings. Fun part, music cassettes have the same idea with hole/no hole, except that for some mysterious reason it works the exact opposite way - hole means no recording, covered hole means recording.
I'm not sure if they used 8mm video but if i remember short-haul air travel (MyTravel - now defunct) in the early 2000s it was a central deck. I was a kid at the time so I'm not sure how reliable my memory is. If I recall they would sometimes pause the video (along with visable noise bars) when making PA announcements, I was surprised at the time they weren't using something more modern (given the fact that DVDs were becoming pretty big at the time).
DVDs do not like bumps. Granted I'm sure theres some version of read ahead memory because they eventually ended up in cars. But turbulence in the air can be a lot more intense than an interstate.
Very good video. I had a simple point and shoot video 8 Sony Handicam, smaller than yours, I do not remember the model number, and a small video deck to play the tapes, from 1986. I took it on a trip from the NYC area in early Fall 1986 for 3 weeks and about 7000 miles up to Niagara Falls, across Canada, to EXPO 86 in the city of Vancouver, BC, down to Washington state and through the Northwest US, down from Seattle, to many sights, and back through the Midwest, past Chicogo back to home in NY state. The picture quality was good, and copied well to VHS tapes to show in friends VCR's back then. The video 8 cassettes were pretty small. Ray.
I had a vhs-c camera that was similar. It only recorded and did not play the tape, did not have Fast Forward or Reverse. I bought it at a flea market cheap and used it for a few years until something better came along, that was over 20 years ago and even though the quality was poor it still allowed me to film my two kids from the time they were born up until there 2nd Birthdays.
Nice little "change of pace" recording outside. Sunlight always makes videos look much crisper. And as your tape mechanism closeup demonstrates, the light itself omnidirectional and diffuse too! I like the glass table compared to the carpet as well. Nice vibes, not very many construction noises noticeable either. Nice to imagine what that looked like with wheat or corn, or - ooh - colorful canola? (Even though their flowers are the absolute worst for my hayfever in the summer - since it's behind my screen, it couldn't hurt me!!)
7:25 the "edit" switch is possibly similar to the "edit" switch used on the same 80s-era Sony SuperBeta VCRs. When set to "off", it engages playback enhancement circuity to improve picture quality, however when the "edit" switch is "on", it turns it off because to limit noise artifacts when dubbing to another VCR during editing (hence the name). An interesting tidbit regarding the 8mm (and Hi8) formats handling of audio. Unlike Betamax & VHS, 8mm doesn't have a linear audio track (similar to audio cassettes), 8mm was developed after Beta & VHS gained hi-fi audio capability, Beta in 1983 & VHS in 1984, 8mm was developed in 1985 so it was natural that the format was born with hi-fi audio, but unlike Beta & VHS, which were hi-fi stereo, 8mm began with only hi-fi mono. 8mm did gain hi-fi stereo audio recording capability later, but the way 8mm recorded stereo was actually different than how Beta & VHS hi-fi stereo worked. Beta & VHS hi-fi stereo recorded the left & right channels on separate audio carriers while 8mm used stereo multiplexing, which included the original mono audio (L+R), but had a difference signal (L-R) which allowed 8mm to be forward & backwards compatible between mono & stereo decks. 8mm hi-fi stereo handled audio very similar to how FM stereo radio works. As for the digital audio for 8mm format, it was relegated to only the highest-end decks and only recorded in 12-bit 32 kHz; by comparison CDs are 16-bit 44.1 kHz and DAT/MiniDV are 16-bit 48 kHz.
It's not an electronic (CRT or LCD) color viewfinder, (color LCD viewfinders wouldn't appear on camcorders until 1993), it's just an optical pipe, similar to rangefinder still cameras, that shows the approximate framing the CCD lens would see. Also this Sony Handycam isn't a zoom camera, so it was easy to design an optical viewfinder that didn't have to zoom in tandem with the CCD lens.
I truly enjoyed this. These 8mm tapes were an issued standard in the US Navy aboard ships and on command sites. I think on every ship all of the younger ones watched Little Shop of Horror at least 3 times a day. However the Handy - Sony CCD-V1 threw me for a loop. I had no idea that futuristic alien technology made use with the 8mm. Thanks for the show.
I know that on the PXL, there's a UV filter over the CCD that will fog-over with time. perhaps something like that is going on with yours. the video looked very hazy... Or it could be dust in the optical path... or the thing is just had it. :D
Do you know if the RM-84 remote is compatible with this camera? I've lost my remote... somewhere... and it's the only way to switch the camera to VTR mode. It's about a third the price of the RM-87 that it comes with by default, so I'm curious if you know.
Doesn't look like the little 8mm airline movie tapes don't have any macrovision copy protection. Do the prerecorded tapes have it? I bet the mini jacks on the input sides serve a dual purpose, to force people to buy an adapter from Sony and to stop people hooking this device to their VCR and copying videos. I'm curious if this recorder can copy a macrovision encoded tape.
Actually most cameras included the cable, which had regular RCA plugs to connect to the VCR and transfer to VHS. They also provided a UHF adapter if one prefer to use the TV or VCR RF input...
Tapes intended for airlines didn't have Macrovosion copy protection. Hollywood and the MPAA trusted that United Airlines etc wouldn't pirate and steal their movies, unlike the general public.
I have this same camera that I found in my grandpas garage after he passed. I've been trying to use it and the cassette holder won't open and the camera won't turn on. You have any tips?
that poor unit of yours , suffers lens fog (probably stored in a moist basement (to fix that unfortunately u have to disassemble and wipe each lens section) also u have leaky/dead capacitors (those are for filtering video/audio etc) , its fixable but sadly takes too much work for the average person
I don't know what kind of NiCd cells are in them, but if you have one, you can take it apart. It can be re-built. Or use a small UPS and the AC adaptor :-) . Brad said he doesn't have a battery for it either, so he probably also used a UPS. *OR* much better: since it runs on 6V, it can probably run from the 5V output of a beefier power bank! You just have do remove the cells form a dead battery, and solder a USB cable to the contacts (with extreme care of the polarity), which you can plug into the power bank. If the battery has a temperature sensor or thermal fuse in it (not in series with the cells, but on separate contacts), leave it connected, otherwise the camera might refuse to work. If the 5V is not enough for it, you can buy adjustable step-up converters on ebay for peanuts, so you can make 6V from the 5V of the power bank. The converter should fit into the battery housing, but it may overheat without ventilation. Glue some heatsinks on it with thermal conductive glue.
@@databits Don't you have a dead battery to use it as a connector interface? I'm curious if it would work from a standard 5V power bank. It would be much neater than a power inverter, and completely mobile as well.
8mm video was commonly used for aircraft entertainment movie playing. They were played from a central VCR, and piped to individual seat back monitors or to drop down screens in the ceiling. The actual 8mm VCR was in an overhead compartment in the front galley, and the flight attendant would load and play the tapes.
Sometimes the tapes were marked as OUTWARD or RETURN, so the flight attendant would know which movie to play if they were on an outward or return flight to the home airport.
I remembered flying in a B747-400 going back to 1990 that had in-flight movies which most likely were played off of an 8mm VCR. In-seat LCD screens wouldn't appear on planes until the 2000s, before that, larger aircraft like the 747 used CRT projectors. It was like a home theater in the sky. The sound would be piped to the in-seat headphones. The audio was mono, but allowed for dual languages (which meant the VCRs were most likely hi-fi stereo).
At least in economy class cabins, those drop-down screens were usually CRTs for small screens in the aisles, and a RGB projector for the projection screen in the middle, at least on a Qantas domestic flight I was on in 2010 which I think used an older Boeing aircraft from the 1980s or 1990s. The seat controls only had a selection of radio programmes, like different genres of music and sometimes even audiobooks and podcasts/radio shows, but the channel number 1 or 0 would've been the audio for the video that was playing on the screens, which were sometimes news earlier on in the flight, ans a movie later on.
Out-doors. I remember the out-doors, back in the before times. The big room with the blue ceiling. It had strange people and bad wifi and those big green things. The thermostat never worked properly.
J Dietrich - I feel your pain
lol i get it
In the early years, they had ONE video player and every a screen in the center isle where everyone watched the same movie. Then later, they had 2-4 video players and you could watch their selection on the seat-back entertainment system by selecting the correct channel. (either free or for a fee). No airline that I know of gave out personal 8mm players to passengers.
This Handycam was more handy than the Betamovie was.
This was my very first camcorder, purchased in 1986 on "clearance" from a chain store called "Silo.' I took dozens of tapes of our kids with it and I still have it. Thanks for the review!
Yay!! I remember Silo!
They we're played from a central player for everyone. I saw it on Sam chui's channel about flying in the last 747
The stewardess talks about using them
Awesome thanks!!
Nice to see that you shot the "spooky graveyard," on Pi Day, 3 years from now! :D
Hello from the future! It'd Pi Day today :D
I have a late 1990's Hi8 VCR that has the same Beta wrap around type tape loading mechanism. Some 8MM camcorders don't even have this mechanism and it loads like a VHS tape. So thee are two type of mechanisms for 8MM to Digital 8 formats that all use the same tape cartridge.
Databits: "Surround Sound Stereo"
Me: Phew! Luckily I have my 7.0 surround sound system set up and ready to go!
Robbie Steel - this was a bit of an exaggeration on my part. However, if you’re listening through a Pro Logic sound system you should hear me in the central channel and ambient sound in the other channels. 😃
Robbie Steel - I’m impressed! How do I sound on that setup?
UA-cam outputs in 7.0???
the DC out near the lens was likely also used for external condenser microphones as they require power too :)
I worked in London gatwick airport for a while, Airside, and some of the aircraft had displays, and video players in the side of the seats, to watch the films.
This particular "Handycam" although I personally have never seen it be very handy was marketed to schools and worship centers as a tripod mounted semi professional way to record school plays worship services band concerts and etc.
I know this because my school still used this all the way into the early 2010s... Yes, the 2010s... although my the time I was familiar with it, mind you my school had a sound recording booth and the A/V club was responsible for operation of the concert hall A/V equipment. If you wanted to operate any of the schools mediocre quality equipment you spent your freshman year, or first year in the club learning from the club seniors.
I did the whole 4 years of high school in the A/V club with this baby thought by the time I got ahold of it we used the A/V out and recorded to a DVD recorder. And the mic in was used with an output from a sound board that was as old as Me. I however convinced the school district to get us a newer HD handycam with a firewire cable to an old computer lab computer. We still recorded to DVD but we were able to use the PC to live stream on the schools website. And I convinced the school district to allow us to archive the stream for posterity.
Sadly the A/V club died with Me and My class in the early 2000s but the video camera was still used until the school decided to allow parents to record and stream in the early 2010s. Those damn smartphones. I think I might have a video of some band/orchestra concerts somewhere. Also the computer club was forced to close down the stream archive shortly after so I can't even link you to the schools website.
Chuckles Nuts - Thanks for sharing your story! Cool stuff!
8mm tapes have a small red plastic switch at the bottom. When the switch is hidden it exposes a hole - this is the recording mode. When the red switch is pulled it covers the hole and the camcorder cannot record on the cassette - safe mode to keep you from erasing previous recordings. Fun part, music cassettes have the same idea with hole/no hole, except that for some mysterious reason it works the exact opposite way - hole means no recording, covered hole means recording.
I own Panasonic NV-GS900 and it's still working :)
I'm not sure if they used 8mm video but if i remember short-haul air travel (MyTravel - now defunct) in the early 2000s it was a central deck. I was a kid at the time so I'm not sure how reliable my memory is.
If I recall they would sometimes pause the video (along with visable noise bars) when making PA announcements, I was surprised at the time they weren't using something more modern (given the fact that DVDs were becoming pretty big at the time).
DVDs do not like bumps. Granted I'm sure theres some version of read ahead memory because they eventually ended up in cars. But turbulence in the air can be a lot more intense than an interstate.
The battery that camcorder takes is a Sony NP-22
9:35 Those are agave plants. Tequila is made from them!
No. You heard the man.
Spikey octopus plants.
Very good video. I had a simple point
and shoot video 8 Sony Handicam,
smaller than yours, I do not remember
the model number, and a small video
deck to play the tapes, from 1986.
I took it on a trip from the NYC area
in early Fall 1986 for 3 weeks and
about 7000 miles up to Niagara Falls,
across Canada, to EXPO 86 in the city
of Vancouver, BC, down to Washington
state and through the Northwest US,
down from Seattle, to many sights,
and back through the Midwest, past
Chicogo back to home in NY state.
The picture quality was good, and
copied well to VHS tapes to show in
friends VCR's back then. The video
8 cassettes were pretty small. Ray.
I remember when I first went on a plane from the UK to the US and was really impressed when I noticed these tiny movie tapes when I got on board!
Funny I JUST dug out my old Sony CCD-VX3, so as I'm watching this video I looks beside me and I can see my camera and its battery charger
Cristian Cortez - it was density, I mean....destiny
I love these old SD cameras
I had a vhs-c camera that was similar. It only recorded and did not play the tape, did not have Fast Forward or Reverse. I bought it at a flea market cheap and used it for a few years until something better came along, that was over 20 years ago and even though the quality was poor it still allowed me to film my two kids from the time they were born up until there 2nd Birthdays.
This is my first video camera. It was amazing.
Nice little "change of pace" recording outside. Sunlight always makes videos look much crisper. And as your tape mechanism closeup demonstrates, the light itself omnidirectional and diffuse too! I like the glass table compared to the carpet as well. Nice vibes, not very many construction noises noticeable either. Nice to imagine what that looked like with wheat or corn, or - ooh - colorful canola? (Even though their flowers are the absolute worst for my hayfever in the summer - since it's behind my screen, it couldn't hurt me!!)
Nice, first time I've seen a video of a V1. The edit switch might take away some filter processing to make tape copies look better.
DV8 was a great system which no one uses anymore.
That version of the handycam logo is kind of cute to be honest!
7:25 the "edit" switch is possibly similar to the "edit" switch used on the same 80s-era Sony SuperBeta VCRs. When set to "off", it engages playback enhancement circuity to improve picture quality, however when the "edit" switch is "on", it turns it off because to limit noise artifacts when dubbing to another VCR during editing (hence the name). An interesting tidbit regarding the 8mm (and Hi8) formats handling of audio. Unlike Betamax & VHS, 8mm doesn't have a linear audio track (similar to audio cassettes), 8mm was developed after Beta & VHS gained hi-fi audio capability, Beta in 1983 & VHS in 1984, 8mm was developed in 1985 so it was natural that the format was born with hi-fi audio, but unlike Beta & VHS, which were hi-fi stereo, 8mm began with only hi-fi mono. 8mm did gain hi-fi stereo audio recording capability later, but the way 8mm recorded stereo was actually different than how Beta & VHS hi-fi stereo worked. Beta & VHS hi-fi stereo recorded the left & right channels on separate audio carriers while 8mm used stereo multiplexing, which included the original mono audio (L+R), but had a difference signal (L-R) which allowed 8mm to be forward & backwards compatible between mono & stereo decks. 8mm hi-fi stereo handled audio very similar to how FM stereo radio works. As for the digital audio for 8mm format, it was relegated to only the highest-end decks and only recorded in 12-bit 32 kHz; by comparison CDs are 16-bit 44.1 kHz and DAT/MiniDV are 16-bit 48 kHz.
TonyW79SFV - thanks for teaching us! Good info!!
i wonder if you play whack-a-mole with the moles in your front yard lol
You can cut down that riser on your sewer clean out to ground or even below ground level instead of sticking up in the middle of your yard :)
Wow, a color viewfiner back then?
Oh...
They had color LCD but not in camcorders yet. I had a pocket TV with color LCD in 1985.
Betamovie also had a similar color viewfinder.
It's not an electronic (CRT or LCD) color viewfinder, (color LCD viewfinders wouldn't appear on camcorders until 1993), it's just an optical pipe, similar to rangefinder still cameras, that shows the approximate framing the CCD lens would see. Also this Sony Handycam isn't a zoom camera, so it was easy to design an optical viewfinder that didn't have to zoom in tandem with the CCD lens.
I truly enjoyed this. These 8mm tapes were an issued standard in the US Navy aboard ships and on command sites. I think on every ship all of the younger ones watched Little Shop of Horror at least 3 times a day. However the Handy - Sony CCD-V1 threw me for a loop. I had no idea that futuristic alien technology made use with the 8mm. Thanks for the show.
J McCullough - ha! You’re welcome.
I gotta find that Who Framed Roger Rabbit tape.
nice exposure for those times
you have to clean the lens :D
what did they do take one there colored sony security camera put 8mm vcr deck on it
it was missing playback from what i remember and they sold a vcr to go with it. strange they did it this way but they did
Thanks keep it up please
Tamer Rafie - will do!
Red Green would say, "Its not hansom or Handy!"
footage from 2023-03-14
Bernard Gumble - Ahh, I’ll remember it well....
I know that on the PXL, there's a UV filter over the CCD that will fog-over with time. perhaps something like that is going on with yours. the video looked very hazy... Or it could be dust in the optical path... or the thing is just had it. :D
Scott Lawrence - probably just had it! I noticed that haze as well.
Do you know if the RM-84 remote is compatible with this camera? I've lost my remote... somewhere... and it's the only way to switch the camera to VTR mode. It's about a third the price of the RM-87 that it comes with by default, so I'm curious if you know.
Doesn't look like the little 8mm airline movie tapes don't have any macrovision copy protection. Do the prerecorded tapes have it?
I bet the mini jacks on the input sides serve a dual purpose, to force people to buy an adapter from Sony and to stop people hooking this device to their VCR and copying videos.
I'm curious if this recorder can copy a macrovision encoded tape.
Actually most cameras included the cable, which had regular RCA plugs to connect to the VCR and transfer to VHS.
They also provided a UHF adapter if one prefer to use the TV or VCR RF input...
Tapes intended for airlines didn't have Macrovosion copy protection. Hollywood and the MPAA trusted that United Airlines etc wouldn't pirate and steal their movies, unlike the general public.
I have this same camera that I found in my grandpas garage after he passed. I've been trying to use it and the cassette holder won't open and the camera won't turn on. You have any tips?
I literally just got one and I need to know the exact battery for it 😒 I’m beyond confused and can’t find it directly on google
If we click the like button 322 times that would just be the same as not clicking it at all.
Gooberslot - I know it’s a joke! 😂
So what time machine did you use to go to March 14 of 2023 to shoot this video 😀😀😀???!!!
You didn't show the LCD data display in action.
kevin12567 - yes I realized that in post editing - sorry!
that poor unit of yours , suffers lens fog (probably stored in a moist basement (to fix that unfortunately u have to disassemble and wipe each lens section)
also u have leaky/dead capacitors (those are for filtering video/audio etc) , its fixable but sadly takes too much work for the average person
So what's the significance of March 14, 2023? Databits, are you a time traveler? Got any stock tips? Who wins the election this year?
Oh wow, I have one of these! Mine works too but I don't have a working battery for it so it's pretty much useless.
I don't know what kind of NiCd cells are in them, but if you have one, you can take it apart. It can be re-built. Or use a small UPS and the AC adaptor :-) . Brad said he doesn't have a battery for it either, so he probably also used a UPS. *OR* much better: since it runs on 6V, it can probably run from the 5V output of a beefier power bank! You just have do remove the cells form a dead battery, and solder a USB cable to the contacts (with extreme care of the polarity), which you can plug into the power bank. If the battery has a temperature sensor or thermal fuse in it (not in series with the cells, but on separate contacts), leave it connected, otherwise the camera might refuse to work. If the 5V is not enough for it, you can buy adjustable step-up converters on ebay for peanuts, so you can make 6V from the 5V of the power bank. The converter should fit into the battery housing, but it may overheat without ventilation. Glue some heatsinks on it with thermal conductive glue.
mrnmrn1 - I used a power inverter and shot video from my car!
@@databits Don't you have a dead battery to use it as a connector interface? I'm curious if it would work from a standard 5V power bank. It would be much neater than a power inverter, and completely mobile as well.
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