Anyone have an 8mm tape video camera I can borrow (Christchurch)?

Forums › Digital Imaging › Anyone have an 8mm tape video camera I can borrow (Christchurch)?

Loaf

108 posts

Master Geek

#246692 17-Feb-2019 17:14

Our Sony Handycam seems to have died. It won't play tapes back except for distorted audio. It happened suddenly after I was playing a tape back and happens with every tape I have so I'm blaming the camera.

Trademe auctions have been no help. The other day I saw one sell for about $180 because of a bidding war.

I need one for a week so I can backup my parents tape collection. I was hoping someone here might be able to help lend me one if you are in the Christchurch area. I've already asked some people I know, but video8 cameras have been out of fashion for some time now.

Lias

5589 posts

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#2181603 17-Feb-2019 18:20

Can't help directly, but if you need/want to get the tape collection professionally digitised PM me and I can point you in the right direction (not likely to be anywhere near as cheap as that $180 camera however)

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Loaf

108 posts

Master Geek

#2181630 17-Feb-2019 19:13

Thanks for the advice! We bought a converter to do our own digital import to save money, but then our camera went bad. D:

I don't really like the idea of giving video or photos of our family to other people in the age of the Internet (won't use social networks for that reason) so we prefer to do it ourselves.

surfisup1000

5288 posts

Uber Geek

#2181635 17-Feb-2019 19:21

Loaf:

Our Sony Handycam seems to have died. It won't play tapes back except for distorted audio. It happened suddenly after I was playing a tape back and happens with every tape I have so I'm blaming the camera.

Trademe auctions have been no help. The other day I saw one sell for about $180 because of a bidding war.

I need one for a week so I can backup my parents tape collection. I was hoping someone here might be able to help lend me one if you are in the Christchurch area. I've already asked some people I know, but video8 cameras have been out of fashion for some time now.

These old handycams are quite valuable now. You should have paid the $180. That actually doesn't sound too bad, and you can digitise your collection then sell it again for the same price.

Loaf

108 posts

Master Geek

#2183684 19-Feb-2019 14:48

I'm skeptical of the prices. I think we're seeing a short-term boom because people want to rescue their old tapes while they can. I missed out on another camera which sold for $76 this week (I was having dinner when it closed 😑) but the problem is there aren't a lot on Trademe and it's taking weeks to find listings and wait for them to close.

Loaf

108 posts

Master Geek

#2186583 24-Feb-2019 22:14

I no longer require help. I read on a forum somewhere that someone managed to "fix" a playback problem by, to put it crudely, hitting the camera.

I gave it a few careful knocks on the side of the unit and the picture came back, and now it plays again. My assumption is that something in the mechanism got stuck, but I guess something could have come loose too. Hopefully it'll last long enough to finish my backup, and maybe this crude trick will work for anyone else reading this who is also having problems.

Lias

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#2186597 24-Feb-2019 23:39

Loaf:

I no longer require help. I read on a forum somewhere that someone managed to "fix" a playback problem by, to put it crudely, hitting the camera.

I gave it a few careful knocks on the side of the unit and the picture came back, and now it plays again. My assumption is that something in the mechanism got stuck, but I guess something could have come loose too. Hopefully it'll last long enough to finish my backup, and maybe this crude trick will work for anyone else reading this who is also having problems.

As noted earlier I have a professional relationship with a few people who deal in antique AV stuff (e.g. all the way back to Betamax and Reel to Reel etc). Percussive maintenance is an actual, real thing.. albeit it generally is a sign that something is going to die expensively soon.

Loaf

108 posts

Master Geek

#2187139 25-Feb-2019 23:48

As noted earlier I have a professional relationship with a few people who deal in antique AV stuff (e.g. all the way back to Betamax and Reel to Reel etc). Percussive maintenance is an actual, real thing.. albeit it generally is a sign that something is going to die expensively soon.

Very strange. I always thought this was more of a joke than an actual phenomenon.

Hopefully our poor camera will last. My parents bought it and I played with it when I was a kid, so it's been used and loved... I don't think it ever had any maintenance performed on it. Whatever happens, I'll be keeping it out of nostalgia.

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Wheelbarrow01

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Chorus

#2187549 26-Feb-2019 13:40

Let me check what I have at home nd come back to you later today or tonight. I know I have a specialist VCR deck for playing camera tapes which plugs direct into the TV via RCA cables, but I am not sure if it is Hi8 or what. I think I even have another deck which has a H8 (or similar) slot and a VHS slot for dubbing on the single machine. Again I am just not sure off the top of my head what format the camera tape is.

It's part of a large collection of my late father's camera equipment that is currently all stored in my (Christchurch) garage.

[EDIT: Sorry just realised you already fixed your issue, but let me know if you need help in future]

The views expressed by me are not necessarily those of my employer Chorus NZ Ltd

Nate001

639 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2187568 26-Feb-2019 13:59

Loaf:

I'm skeptical of the prices. I think we're seeing a short-term boom because people want to rescue their old tapes while they can. I missed out on another camera which sold for $76 this week (I was having dinner when it closed 😑) but the problem is there aren't a lot on Trademe and it's taking weeks to find listings and wait for them to close.

Its not a short term boom. I spend almost 3 years looking on trademe for the right camera to transfer old Hi8 tapes that wasn't over >$250. $180 is a bargain IMO. And with these players getting older and less available the prices will not be dropping. Most likely the $76 wasn't going to cut the mustard.

It should be possible to sell it again for what you paid. A good camera with digital capabilities (firewire) to play back Hi8 tapes will cost you but is the best way to go, and you have to be patient to find the right one.