Failed video tap

[focusgroup]

Well I purchased a pelikan spy camera to use with my beaulieu 4008. I couldnt try and rig it up until this last weekend as the camera was getting a total overhaul at Du-all. Anyhow the 30 trial period expired and Im stuck with the darn thing.

Ive tried every option to make this thing work and FYI I suggest forgetting to try and hook up a tap to this camera. It just plain wont work.

Interesting stuff however. I love that little spy cam! I hook it up to capture analog on my digital video camera. You get the coolest dirtiest and gritty imaging. Plus its so small you can get right someones nostril if you want.

I hate to admit it but how come this darn thing does some stuff better than mini DV? I mean alot better! ie no stair stepping effect or interlacing tearing. It has only 370 lines resolution and a horrendous 140 degree built in lens. But it still has a look that is much closer to film than mini dv. The more I learn, the more it seems that mini dv quality is a myth.

[mattias]

Ive tried every option to make this thing work and FYI I suggest forgetting to try and hook up a tap to this camera. It just plain wont work.

can you give us any details? i'm pretty sure you didn't try *every* option ;-) so i'd like to know what you did, and why it didn't work? i'm looking into doing pretty much the same thing, but i thought those spy cameras wouldn't work since the field of view is way to big to get more than a few pixels in the middle worth of viewfinder image...

I mean alot better! ie no stair stepping effect or interlacing tearing.

probably because it's not using any edge enhancement, plus the signal isn't digitally compressed...

/matt

[jessh]

The more I learn, the more it seems that mini dv quality is a myth.

And he sees the light!
MiniDV really isnt that much better than well handeld Hi8, and in some ways is worse(color depth and compression artifacts), the main advantage of MiniDV is convenience, but it really isn't as big of a leap as anyone has made it out to be. DV has done a lot to get video to become more accepted, but that seems to have more to do with the hype than the technology. what was this thread about again? oh yeah...

why didn't the camera work as a video tap? Was this the one that roger said he uses?

~Jess

[MovieStuff]

The Pelican spy cam works pretty good for video taps but not for all cameras. I used the camera part (but with a 25mm enlarging lens) for video tap conversions on CP-16's. The problem is that all the mini spy cams use an electronic shutter to alter the expsure instead of an iris. That means that, if the light level is low, it works pretty good since the shutter speed will drop pretty low. But if you get a bright spot, then the shutter speed will step up and cause tremendous flicker. Of course, video taps should never be used for judging asthetics; only framing. There are two different black and white Pelikan cams and they each have a different lens. One lens is better suited for using with a super 8 camera than the other. I honestly don't remember which is was as it's been a long time ago since I hooked one up to a super 8 camera. But beam spitter super 8 cameras work better than mirrored shutter cameras for the reason I just gave: flicker.

What was the specific problem you had, George?

Roger

[focusgroup]

The problem is that the best image I can see using the spy cam is a glow in the center of my lcd viewing screen. Kind of like the October moon in mist. Its perfect for Halloween but no image is viewable. I wish there was an image to complain of flickering but frankly am unable to get any ghost of an image.

My wife is far more mechanically inclined than I and she hooked up a few ingenious contractraptions to hold the apy cam at varying distances from the viewer. She mostly used foam with velcro etc. Anyhow no such luck with any image suitable for framing purposes. The other problem is even if you did get an image how would you know the framing is correct if you cant fill up the full lcd viewing screen.

[crimsonson]

The more I learn, the more it seems that mini dv quality is a myth.

MiniDV really isnt that much better than well handeld Hi8, and in some ways is worse(color depth and compression artifacts),
~Jess

DV25, if the digital numbers are converted in to analog, has slightly more color info than BetaSP. Hi8 does NOT have more color info than either format.
Hi8 S/N is horrendous compared to either format. You might not get stairstepping (a flaw of digital compression as Mattias mentioned, though it is smaller in less compressed formats like DigiBeta), but artifacts galore takes over, espcially in low light.


anyways...
Roger is right, your particular lens might not be compatible with your cams viewfinder.