Vintage Video Camera

Sometimes, there are things that writing and still photos can’t capture. Utilizing a video camera comes in because it can capture the live action happening in a certain occasion. Making videos gives the world the chance to see the personalities in the scene and the process behind the things.

Today, there are many video cameras that are of excellent quality. One may not forget the video cams made by Sony, Hitachi, JVC and many others are using cutting edge technology in producing quality videos. What is the place of vintage video camera in this world full of high-tech devices?

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A glimpse of the past will give us full understanding on how our present-day video cameras came into life is by studying the vintage video cameras. Vintage video cameras are the precursor of the high definition video cameras that we have now.

The first attempt to produce a domestic video recorder was released by the Ampex Signature V. This unit was offered in the Neiman-Marcus catalog which was priced $30,000. It was nine feet long and weighed 900 pounds.


The video portion system included the Black & White reel to reel video recorder with TV tuner and automatic timer. The cabinet also housed a complete audio system including an AM/FM tuner, stereo amplifier, record player, reel-to-reel audio recorder, and stereo loudspeakers.

A color TV was viewable from the front of the console, while all other components were accessed from the top.

While Sony claim to be the first who introduced the modern domestic video tape recorder (reel to reel video. The Sony CVC-2000 was the first ever released video camera in August 1965. The CV stood for “Consumer Video” and it was the company’s video format throughout the year.

It uses half-inch wide videotape in an open reel format which means the video tape should threaded to the video head drum manually. It recorded television programs in black and white using the skip field process.

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It can produce a maximum of 200 lines resolution. Although this was aimed for home use, it was mainly used in business and educational institutions.

Aside from Ampex and Sony, JVC, Hitachi and Panasonic joined the bandwagon in producing the video cameras. As years pass by, the more it becomes sophisticated and the technology becomes high end.

Some vintage video cameras are still at work. Why don’t you try purchasing and using a vintage video camera in filming your moments? Though it may cause you troubles because of its outdated features, but at least it would give a feeling on how special events before were filmed through the use of vintage video cameras.



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