f***@gmail.com
2015-06-05 07:43:52 UTC
I've a Sharp VL-E89E, an 8mm viewcam w/ 10cm screen. I've pedantically
followed careful storage and handling procedures for the camera, and
it has had what I consider very light use: I'm up to tape 16, or 24
recording hours, over the 5 years I've had it - with perhaps up to
another 24-36 hours playback to transfer the 8mm recordings over to
VHS. I've stuck with the one brand of tape (BASF - which is all can
regularly get), only switching when the problems below cropped up on
the advice of a local tech. It's been serviced twice in that period,
both times for "preventative" maintenance.
Alas, it's been playing up lately: regular 'dirty heads' symbol (tape
cleaner fixes it for a few tens of minutes record time); chewed two
tapes when ejecting; and has now failed to record audio along with
wide lines on the bottom of the image.
In this neck of the woods (Wollongong, south of Sydney, Australia)
it's going to cost me at least $A300 to get it looked at, plus parts.
i.e. probably between $500-800+. Basically, I can now buy a new 8mm
camera for that.
I guess it's the end of the road for this camera, and at what has
turned out to be about $A80 per tape, I'm not happy about its short
life.
Now my question is: just what kind of lifetime (hours) are you
supposed to get out of a middle of the road consumer camcorder?
Are the digital-8 cameras any better?
.this view-cam can be used as a small tv provide it's connected to vcr 'analogue-digital' vcr that is .also you can use the vcr to record via view-cam .using it's 2 in 1 cables .that only if the video-heads ain't replaceable .followed careful storage and handling procedures for the camera, and
it has had what I consider very light use: I'm up to tape 16, or 24
recording hours, over the 5 years I've had it - with perhaps up to
another 24-36 hours playback to transfer the 8mm recordings over to
VHS. I've stuck with the one brand of tape (BASF - which is all can
regularly get), only switching when the problems below cropped up on
the advice of a local tech. It's been serviced twice in that period,
both times for "preventative" maintenance.
Alas, it's been playing up lately: regular 'dirty heads' symbol (tape
cleaner fixes it for a few tens of minutes record time); chewed two
tapes when ejecting; and has now failed to record audio along with
wide lines on the bottom of the image.
In this neck of the woods (Wollongong, south of Sydney, Australia)
it's going to cost me at least $A300 to get it looked at, plus parts.
i.e. probably between $500-800+. Basically, I can now buy a new 8mm
camera for that.
I guess it's the end of the road for this camera, and at what has
turned out to be about $A80 per tape, I'm not happy about its short
life.
Now my question is: just what kind of lifetime (hours) are you
supposed to get out of a middle of the road consumer camcorder?
Are the digital-8 cameras any better?