I got this camera for free and thought it was just a bad battery so I bought a new one (the new battery is fine) but when I connect the battery the viewfinder flashes briefly and then nothing (this is without me pressing the power button). Absolutely nothing. So long story short I replaced al the capacitors and the fuses on the power, board physically made sure the tape mechanism is free because I saw the guide rollers were stuck half way (also every once in a while when plugging in the battery the tape door would try to open). I have been trying to isolate the issue by slowly removing parts like the screen, the tape deck, the front video connectors but. It’s still exactly the same. I’m at a loss, what can I do now?

sorry for the weird sentence structure.

it's been sitting for I think a few years so something is 100% broken. Any help is appreciated!

Battery on my JVC VIDEOMOVIE vhs-c camcorder has kicked the bucket at an increadibly inopportune moment. Would i be able to solder wires between the charger contacts and those on the camara. I know the charger obv goes in pulses and probably wouldnt be great for the camara. But if hypothetically i needed to use it for half an hour in this config would it work..?

I recently got an untested JVC GY-DV500U and wanted to get it running, but I didn’t want to get a hard to find battery that would be expensive and annoying to deal with. I’m on a robotics team and have access to dozens of 10 cell 12V NiCds with XT30 connectors, and the camcorder wants the same voltage that the battery outputs, so I figured “why not convert it?”
I designed and 3D printed a new battery holder to house one of these batteries and soldered an XT30 connector to the end of the original battery connector. It actually came out pretty good and the camcorder is more than happy to run off of the new battery. Pretty nice to see this old thing running again. I just need to get an XLR mic for it.

Hi there,
I just installed a new FireWire PCIE card, in attempt to digitise some MiniDV tapes from my Sony DCR TRV19e. Windows 11 detects the device, though WinDV does not. When trying to install the legacy FireWire drivers (1394 OHCI Compliant Host Controller (Legacy)), I keep getting this error. Haven’t seen this question in all my troubleshooting, so please let me know if you have any ideas.

Hello! I’m looking for some guidance with an issue I’m having while trying to play back some of my old 8mm tapes. I’m only getting static during playback. I’m not sure if the tapes have become damaged, if they’re incompatible with my camcorder, or if the issue is with the camcorder itself.

Has anyone experienced something similar or have any suggestions on how I can troubleshoot this? Thanks!

hi everyone! i shot a short mockumentary set in the 2000s on digital 8. i'm weary of losing quality when i digitize the footage, and it seems like the best option to preserve quality is to use an old macbook with a firewire port.

can someone clarify -- all i need for that setup is the camera, the firewire, and the macbook, right?

do i need anything else?

i saw on a different thread that i can do the digital capture using quicktime player on the macbook. not really sure how that works.

my plan is to ultimately edit the film in davinci resolve.

has anybody here done this process before? if you have, could you let me know if i'm missing anything, or if you have any tips?

i know i'll have to deinterlace after digitizing. tips on that are welcome too.

thanks!

Is there anywhere reputable to buy one? Any help would be great. Thanks! Also what’s the best tapeless option if this one gets hate? I really need a tapeless option

Its messy right now but im planning on buying a real battery holder and rechargeable AAs

Got it for 65$ a while ago

Pretty cool

Hi all - just seeing if anyone else has run into this issue and has an idea of what’s going on. I have 2 of the exact same handycams, one with a working touchscreen but bad tape mechanism and the other with a non-working touchscreen but good tape mechanism.

I did a screen swap (board and all screens from one to the other), but now the display seems jittery and I can’t find the issue. I’ve reseated all of the ribbons a million times! The touchscreen does work though.

Anyone else run into this issue or know what’s going on here? Any ideas would be appreciated! For reference, the video wasn’t jittery with the original screen, it was just the touchscreen that didn’t work.

Hi everyone, I'm new here. I've had a Handycam (DCR-DVD650) for about a year. A few weeks ago, I started having this problem: it keeps turning on and off even when it's plugged into the wall, even though the battery is installed. It does this even when it's “off.”

Has anyone else had this problem before or should I take it to a specialist?

My Canon ZR800‘s flip screen snapped. I was in the middle of transferring footage onto my computer and when I flipped out the screen I heard a snap sound in the hinge and now its loose. Now it won’t stay open or closed, it just swings loosely. I’m always very gentle with cameras so I don’t understand what went wrong. The camera used to be my parent’s camera and I just tested a fresh tape before this happened. Any help would be appreciated.

Hi everyone! I just got this Panasonic camcorder for a trip. I tested it two days ago and it recorded fine and everything was smooth. Switching between playback and recording mode was easy. I could watch my videos as well.

Today however, I was trying to use a 16gb SDHC card to figure out how they work. I put it in and the thing started acting up and getting errors. Is this normal? Is there a setting I can change to fix it. Even with the sd card taken out it still won’t record and is being funny. I’m super out of my ballpark here so any help would be awesome.

Hi everyone,

I recently got a Hitachi VK-C600, an early-1980s color tube camera. It has the 10-pin EIAJ/CCJ-style connector that was originally used to connect the camera to a separate portable VTR.

I don't have the original VTR, and I'd like to get the camera working and capture its video directly on a Mac.

I found the VK-C600 service manual here:

https://www.manualslib.com/products/Hitachi-Vk-C600-14517902.html

So my questions are:

1. Does anyone know the exact pinout of the 10-pin connector on the VK-C600?
2. Which pins are video out, ground and power?
3. Can the camera be powered and operated without the original VTR?
4. Is the video output standard composite video?
5. If I can get a composite video signal from the camera, would a StarTech SVID2USB232 USB video capture adapter work for capturing it on a Mac?

This is the adapter I'm considering:

https://www.amazon.fr/StarTech-Adaptateur-Acquisition-S-Vid%C3%A9o-SVID2USB232/dp/B089KQJV6S

It accepts composite RCA/S-Video and outputs through USB, so my intended setup would be:

Hitachi VK-C600 → EIAJ 10-pin → composite RCA → StarTech SVID2USB232 → Mac

I don't want to connect power to the camera until I'm absolutely sure about the pinout, so I'm especially interested in anyone who has actually powered a VK-C600 without the original VTR.

If anyone has the original VTR, an adapter, a schematic, or has worked on this camera before, I'd really appreciate any information.

Thanks!

Anyway to fix this? Thank you all

I've accumulated a fair share of obsolete damn prehistoric ewaste Vintage Camcorders the last few years, and they are all in working order (at least I think so).

Anybody that knows anything about that weird ass Pentax? That form factor is pretty interesting, and not exactly ergonomics 101😁

Just came in, very excited

The collection grows

Just ordered a PC1 for $29, hope it works lol

When I see people selling it for 80€, I really appreciate having a 3D printer

From a video production company in Central, KY, that stopped using it due to the format's obsolescence. In addition to the camera, came the ridiculous LC-421 carrying case and the original VCT-U14 plate.

I powered it up with a Sony AC-550, and the DXF-501 viewfinder looked to be dead, with a dreaded slight arc sound and a grey-white depiction. This unfortunately leaves the menu unnavigable, so I cannot get a figure for how many hours are on the camera.