Hi8 Camera Good for Anything?

[Meryem Ersoz]

i recently came into, for free, a Sony CCD-TRV101 Hi8 camcorder, which is in pretty pristine condition, works perfectly. is there any value in keeping this item? i have a GL2 and a coupla other DV options, so i don't really need a 2nd camera per se.

are there any ways in which these cameras can complement each other, or are they such different beasts that i should just get rid of the Hi8? they seem to sell on ebay for around $120, which is not much money, so if anyone can suggest any pragmatic reasons for hanging onto it, i'd appreciate hearing them?

is it possible that there is some sort of "donate-an-outmoded-camcorder" to underprivileged youth project out there? (seems as if there should be!)

[Radek Svoboda]

Some of older cameras use 2/3" chips so you get lot better DOF. Hi8 picture quality is fine.

Radek

[K. Forman]

They do have good images. The Hi 8 is capable of playing back digital 8mm and Hi 8 mm tapes, which make them good as a deck... if you do any freelance editing. If nothing else, it would make a fine back up.

If you want to donate, I believe board member Rick Bravo has some sort of youth program in Miami.

[Conor Ryan]

I came into something similar recently, a sony handycam thingy. Then I took it to pieces and found that if you take off the lens assembly you can make a fine microscopic camera. Don't expect to see atoms or anything, but it's big enough to see the face on various insects. Had a depth of field of a millimeter, fixed focus of about a centimeter.

It was easy to do, you don't have to break the camera or anything, you just need the right type of screwdriver.

[Kyle Edwards]

Originally Posted by Keith Forman

They do have good images. The Hi 8 is capable of playing back digital 8mm and Hi 8 mm tapes, which make them good as a deck... if you do any freelance editing. If nothing else, it would make a fine back up.

Other way around. D8 (Digital 8) can play back Hi8 tapes and DV recorded on Video 8/Hi8 tapes. Some recent lower end D8 cameras have lost their option to play back Hi8 tapes, an extra 40 bucks or so has to be spent to get that feature from the next model up.

[K. Forman]

"Other way around. D8 (Digital 8) can play back Hi8 tapes and DV recorded on Video 8/Hi8 tapes. Some recent lower end D8 cameras have lost their option to play back Hi8 tapes, an extra 40 bucks or so has to be spent to get that feature from the next model up."

Oops... I knew it was along them lines, but I never personally used 8mm. I have edited some of the footage though, after being transferred to VHS, and it did look really good.

[John C. Chu]

Originally Posted by Radek Svoboda

Some of older cameras use 2/3" chips so you get lot better DOF. Hi8 picture quality is fine.

Radek

I remember the 'old days' of VHS-C etc when the picture in the viewfinder and simultaneous monitoring was amazing looking...
Once on tape though... playback of that recorded footage was another story. What a disappointment! (SVHS was good though..)

I remember reading how someone realized that the picture out of these old analog cameras could be recorded via the 'video-in' of a cheapo miniDV camcoder, thus yielding very satisfying results.

Might be a fun experiment to see whether the new optics are better than some of the old school stuff.