non-digital professional video cameras?
Posted on Mar 31, 2009 under Digital news and reports |Can anyone tell me a list of good quality non-digital professional video cameras (from the 80s, early 90s)?
I don't like the newer digital videocameras, they're way too crisp and flawless.
I prefer the old film look. like 80s, early 90s look. Can someone help me out?
thanks
March 31st, 2009 at 7:13 am
Betacam SP was generally the professional format of choice. As for the "old film" look, that was achieved by using actual film. There were shows that were shot on film, and others that were videotaped.
March 31st, 2009 at 7:13 am
I'm not quite sure what you are going for here. All of the professional cameras from the past 20 years have been either DVCAM or Betacam and are still extremely expensive as they are still used by news agencies and such. Many things that you see with that "look" are filmed on film, using specific stock to give it that "old film" look. Film is difficult to work with for consumers and I wouldn't recommend it. What you can do is to recreate this same look in post with some kind of video editor. Today's modern video editors come equiped with many filters and effects to achieve what you are looking for including distortion, jump, color tint, etc. You could take a beautiful HD picture and make it look like crap if you wanted. A program you could use to do this on windows is Vegas Movie Studio by Sony and on Mac, of course, final cut express. Of course if you don't mind experimenting and you want to learn more about film lovemaking, you could try picking up an old 8mm film camera, of course you also need film stock, processing, and of course a projector to show it on… Basically just use todays modern equipment and use an editor like Vegas or Final Cut to get the "old film look" that you want in post.
March 31st, 2009 at 7:13 am
I think you're confused… older analog video cameras look even more "video-like" than today's digital cameras. Going back to the 80s, pretty much anything you see on TV was shot on film, other than live TV and maybe a handful of sitcoms.
The most telling aspect of video vs. film is frame rate… regular video in the USA is shot at 60i (60 fields = 30 interlaced frames per second), while film is shot at 24p (24 frames per second, progressive). Many digital video cameras, including most of Canon's high-def models, can shoot in 24p today.
If you want a more hardcore "aged stock" look, there are film effect plugins available for many different video programs. These effects can vary from fairly basic stuff like changing the color curves to look more film-like, to more advanced stuff like adding a grain look or even scratches.
If you still want analog, keep in mind that most TV, even if was shot on tape, isn't shot on a camcorder… they have cameras in the studio, tape in the control room. For ENG (electronic news gathering) mobile cameras, those are probably Betacam, unless you go way, way back.
You CAN find Betacam camcorders on eBay, even some for under $1000. But keep in mind, these were originally $20,000+ models, and anything you see there is probably heavily used, with hundreds or thousands of hours on the heads. And these are big, shoulder-mount things. Just search for Betacam.
A far better choice (well, aside from digital, which I really think will give you a better result) is to track down a high-end Hi8 model, like a Sony CCD-VX3 or a Canon A1. You can find these pretty cheap, but as with the Betacam models, or pretty much anything that's 20-30 years old, age will be an issue.
March 31st, 2009 at 7:13 am
The other answerers have made the point that if it looked like film then..it was. If you watch some of the TV series from the early 80s you will see when they made the transition to videotape..as it had no depth of field and was too sharp. One of the big early broadcast formats was U-matic in low and high band…replaced when Betacam came along. Most of those horrible video TV programs were down to U-matic from memory.
If you want a good camera that shoots video that looks very filmy then try one of the cameras we use. The JVC GY-HD111e Shooting in 720p, the footage can actually slotted quite comfortably into a 16mm film workflow. Bang for buck for the small filmmaker it can't be beaten and is even now a staple camera and format for ENG (news) crews..which explains why a good few news features now look like they've been shot on film again…down to JVC's ProHD formats. It can also be down to the lenses to finish it with getting the depth of field that marks the quality of film too. Of course the high-end broadcast and feature HD formats (HDCAM 1080p, 2160p 2k, 3k, 4k etc) are there to be amazed at but probably not in your budget.
I hope that helps. I've been in the business since film..through some horrible video and now in the days of where digital is really starting to take it's rightful place as a competitor to film. For the ultimate digital camera go to http://www.red.com and watch as digital video really does threaten 35mm film. That footage has to be seen to be believed and the cams are fast becoming the darlings of Hollywood.
I hope that helps you in your quest. Using any 80s video camera could be very scary experience.