Years ago I owned a Sony DXC-1820, a tube camera, but never really used it for anything because it required a huge amount of light to create clean pictures, and the camera was massive \u2013 far heavier than the Sony V-801 Hi8 CCD camcorder I used for taping archival dance performances at fFIDA. This was around 1994-1995. Besides the unique \u2018tube look\u2019 the camera was from a pre-camcorder era, which means there was no recorder built into the camera.<\/p>\n The first portable camera-recorder setups two two-parters: a camera with a fat cable connected to a separate VCR. This was the beginning of early non-film electronic news gathering (ENG), and Sony\u2019s first effort debuted in 1967 via the Sony Video Rover<\/a>, also dubbed the portapak<\/a> system. The cameras filmed black & white images (and later colour), and the VCRs were reel-to-reel \u2013 which sounds like madness, but isn\u2019t: if videotape was the natural offshoot of audiotape, it makes sense the former\u2019s consumer \/ prosumer debut would use the familiar threading and tape engaging system of reel to reel audiotape.<\/p>\n For a good 15+ years, this two-part system remained in use both professionally (ENG) and within the prosumer market (industrial videos, educational & corporate use) until the mid-eighties. In 1983, Sony carried over their camcorder design from their 1982 ENG Betacam units to the consumer Betamax format. Once Beta and VHS switched from camera + recorder to camcorder, the two-part system became obsolete.<\/p>\n In between the switch was the introduction of consumer-grade CCD cameras: because they began to emerge in 1981 (via Hitachi, and soon other manufacturers), they too were two-parters, requiring a fat cable that connected the camera to a separate VCR.<\/p>\n The cables generally did three things: they powered the cameras, they send the sound & images to be record to the VCR, and they could also play back the taped footage via the camera\u2019s viewfinder. You could also buy separate standalone power units which had video and audio out plugs which could be connected to a monitor \/ TV or VCR \u2013 another carry-down from the camera + separate power packs of the seventies.<\/p>\n The two-part system was cumbersome, heavy, and to present day consumers, ridiculous in that everything you needed was not contained in one light, easy to carry unit from which you can pop out a tape, hard drive, memory stick \/ card.<\/p>\n On the other hand, because the two-parters were carry-overs from the professional and prosumer realms, the cameras were solid-built [read: metal chassis and in some cases, outer shell], and often contained great lenses which could also be adapted for additional telephoto & wide angle scope through the use of adapter lenses. These lenses extenders weren\u2019t exclusive to the pre-camcorder units, but they were smartly interchangeable.<\/p>\n Several of RCA\u2019s tube and early CCD cameras used the same wide and tele lenses, as did Sony\u2019s prosumer HVC series (the snazzy cameras that preceded the Betamax camcorder). Canon also made their set of lens extenders that could be used on video cameras as well as Super8 cameras.<\/p>\n Another plus: most of the cameras were made by just a handful of companies in Japan. Many of the lenses \u2013 including those for RCA \u2013 were made in Japan when the country was well established as the pinnacle of quality manufacturing. The Japanese-made gear also permitted a peculiar level of interchangeability: Panasonic made the cameras for Quasar, Olympus, Canon, and General Electric, so if you pick up a VCR, a camera, a detachable viewfinder, and a power supply unit by any one of these companies, depending on the manufacturing style, many of these re-badged components will work together.<\/p>\n This is kind of foils the propriety designs of some present day gear which makes it impossible to mix & match components, let alone know whether or not your camera will become obsolete in less than a year. Case in point again: the fact RCA\u2019s lenses and film slide transfer attachments could be used among tube & CCD cameras spanning several years<\/em>.<\/p>\n Another odd bonus: although consumer cameras didn\u2019t offer detachable lenses like their prosumer counterparts, you can mix & match some lenses with occasional success. It\u2019s a lot like DSLR\u2019s where there will be flaws \u2013 vignetting, limited focus in extreme ranges \u2013 but not whole incompatibilities. For the short film I was able to use RCA\u2019s wide angle extender because it too fitted a 58mm thread; there was vignetting at its widest setting and focus became soft & hazy at the zoom setting, but unlike Canon\u2019s fixed wide angle extender, I could zoom within a safe range and still get a clean picture. (The hazing of the image might also be handy for creating deliberately desired aberrant images.)<\/p>\n Again, none of this is unique to DSLR\u2019s; there are many blogs that show camera collectors trying out vintage lenses from film, video, and stills. What I find fascinating is that these older cameras seem to offer a broader range than standard consumer gear of the 90s (assuming you\u2019re after vintage gear).<\/p>\n So why did I opt for tube rather than CCD?<\/p>\n It\u2019s a unique look where the colours are more pastel, the limited LUX rating adds a different kind of video grain, and the noise, which can be warped to create some really nice textures \u2013 nice being a subjective thing.<\/p>\n Consumer video gear is noisier than prosumer models, and that\u2019s not a bad thing per se. Like film stock or cameras or video formats, you pick what suits the project or the aesthetics you\u2019re after, and my desire was to get pastel colours which I could desaturate or ludiocrously saturate and get results distinct from HD.<\/p>\n There\u2019s also the aesthics of filming a video store and its contents, atmosphere, and small daily nuances using technology that\u2019s as outmoded as the concept of renting physical media in a downloadable, streaming age.<\/p>\n Now this is where the prior blog<\/a> on video stores comes in. Renting & selling physical media in a traditional bricks & mortar establishment is outmoded. I won\u2019t use obsolete because there\u2019s nothing obsolete in getting goods & services from a physical place staffed by humans. You still need to get your hair cut, you have to buy frozen food from outside your home, get your car fixed, and for most people, you need some human interaction \u2013 particularly when there\u2019s a problem (like, er, plumbing). Video renting could be seen as obsolete, but I prefer niche, and I think within the linked Editor\u2019s Blog above, I make a few valid points on why physical media can\u2019t die in the immediate future.<\/p>\n Back to the gear.<\/p>\n There are dual sides to working with tube cameras: the technical makeup and resulting visuals are unique, but they are prone to one specific horror that can ruin any future usage: burn spots.<\/p>\n Tubes are sensitive to extreme light, and you can\u2019t point them at sharp hot spots without risking some permanent black spot or burn-in halo. It can happen, and that\u2019s the additional risk in buying tube gear (of which my own exploits via ebay will be discussed in another blog).<\/p>\n It\u2019s like a dead pixel, except unlike a Canon DSLR, there\u2019s no reset switch that redraws the pixel grid to erase aberrations. The spot is there, and every time you pan or tilt, zoom or pull back, that goddamn spot or streak<\/a> is there. Worse, there\u2019s the issue of getting replacement tubes for what\u2019s essentially an antique. Tubes burn easily, and they die slowly, with colours warping sometimes to an unwavering green shade. (More on that in another blog, too.)<\/p>\n Tubes have been around for decades, and were in the first studio cameras that brought images to early TV households in the late forties. The types you commonly find within the late 70s \/ early 80s gear are Vidicons (early 70s Sony cameras), Saticons (Hitachi cameras, as well as other brands), Newvicons (various brands), and Trinicons (Sony).<\/p>\n And like the current pro 3-chip cameras, you had 2-tube (one each for luminance & chrominace) and 3-tube cameras (each for red, green & blue colours) that were employed in pro and prosumer cameras. Consumer grade cameras stayed at the single tube variety with qualitative differences between each brand. Vidicons are more sensitive to bright lights (manuals & guides warn about chrome reflections) hence bigger risk of burns. Newvicons were developed to handle low light situations but the pictures, with some cameras, are prone to more comet-tailing and ghosting. To some experts, Saticons offered the best choice, and you also find them in so-called Hi-Band prosumer cameras which handle low light well, and offer robust, natural colours.<\/p>\n Sony\u2019s Trinicons were found in both consumer, prosumer, and pro cameras, and reportedly had their own unique low light capabilities, although like any camera, low light = more noise, so while Ability might be there, the Capability to offer a clean sharp picture ain\u2019t when compared to later CCD cameras. However, even the mid-90s Hi8 cameras produced images where you can see the digital compression, so there\u2019s a plus to older tube cameras; the trade-off may be burn risk and intolerance to low light, but the images are free from compression artifacts.<\/p>\n In researching & scoping cameras for sale, I found and settled on two units for the short film: a 1985 Canon VC-50 Pro, and Sharp QC-54.<\/p>\n The Canon sports a Panasonic body, but uses a Canon lens whose 58mm thread accepts the aforementioned wide and tele lens extenders (which themselves also work on Panasonic \/ etc. models). Instead of the Newvicon tubes used by Panasonic, the Canons came with Saticon tubes, and the VC-50 uses a Hi-Band 6MHz tube instead of the Hi-Band 5MHz versions in models VC-10 thru -30.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/bigheadamusements.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/IMG_0871_s-150x150.jpg\" "\\"IMG_0871_s\\"")
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