Betacams and VTRs

Post by **RET80** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 9:09 am

Today at work I was strolling around the net looking for cameras to buy or rent for my upcoming movie and I came across something pretty interesting and I was looking to find more information about this. I found these things called Betacams and VTRs. People say they were used for broadcast television and what-not. I hopped on ebay to take a look at one and maybe add it to my camera collection and all I find are these large tapedeck units instead cameras. Anyone know what betacams and VTRs are? They look interesting enough to look into further for fun.

Post by **Rollef** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 9:37 am

Me thinks betacam is (was) an old (ca 1980) professional format that (may) still exist to some extent.
You would need a betacam camera to record i guess.

http://images.google.com/images?hl=no&q ... a=N&tab=wi

VTR is most likely "video tape recorder".
it's what you used to watch films on

Someone will correct me if i'm wrong

Post by **Angus** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 10:54 am

Betacam was/is a pro format using Betamax sized cassette tapes but it was broadcast quality. Its been superceded by digital betacam (often known as digibeta). Probably still in use, especially for news reporting.

VTR is just that, a video tape recorder.....could mean anything from an old B&W prosumer unit of the early 70's giving skip field low quality images right up to an Ampex Quad unit 2" VTR for broadcast use...note the quads (2" or 1" machines) require a compressed air suppply and are not generally suitable for enthusiast/amateur work. Superceded by betacam and digibeta but it has to be said that 2" quad recordings in good condition look fantastic.

Amateur VTRs typically were the Sony AV series...late 60's to 70's machines some of which were portable...or at least luggable. Helical scan open reel machines usually skip-field format (ie one video head recording only one of the two video fields per frame). Quality was utterly dire much of the time, portapak machines were always B&W...but they're cool to play with. I have an early 70's B&W home VTR from Sony, built better than a Quarz 8mm camera!

Post by **Angus** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 11:01 am

http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en ... apak&gbv=2

http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en ... apak&gbv=2

Sony VTR's including the portapak....which was about as portable as lugging a suitcase and a huge camera around...and a battery belt...but it DID allow you to watch your wobbly low res B&W home movies within minutes of shooting them, so of course it was better than super 8.

Post by **Patrick** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 11:03 am

Betacam is a high quality professional tape format developed by Sony. Betacam has been used extensively for television broadcast (mainly news) in the 1980s, 1990s and 00s. One of the first appearances of Betacam equipment was at the NAB Show in 1981. There are several different variations of Betacam. Firstly, there was regular Betacam which was later superceded by Betacam SP which apparently offered better quality than the regular. Anyone shooting analogue Betacam in television broadcast nowadays would be shooting Betacam SP. Regular Betacam is almost obselete. Then later, Digital Betacam came along which offered even better quality than SP. I beleive there is also another digital variation of the format called Betacam SX but I don't know any details about that one.

Be warned that Betacam cameras, lenses and VTRs are VERY expensive!
$$$$$

If you do find a Betacam camera cheap on eBay, it's likely an older, thrashed out model that has had many, many hours of use by news crews in all sorts of conditions and all sorts of weather.

Website · Post by **BigBeaner** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 5:33 pm

Could've have said it better Patrick. Beta SP is really good, but not many use it anymore, regardless the equipment is still pretty pricey. Digi Beta is even better, but look up how much tape stock and a vtr to rent is and that'll give you an idea. Most TV shows shoot on film and transfer either to beta sp or digi beta.

Post by **RET80** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 8:45 pm

Wow thanks guys you've all given me a clearer understanding of what betacams and VTRs are. I was strolling around youtube and found an interesting commercial made with a Sony 790 Digi BetaCam.

Link here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nERvJiLVOc

And they're extremely expensive on ebay, running easily up to $35,000, however I did find one that was about $60 and yes, it looked like it went through a sand storm and then afterwards spit all over.

Post by **timdrage** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 10:22 pm

I really want a Portapak! ^_^

ANyone interested in old video formats (especially their use in social/underground/art circles) should check out http://www.radicalsoftware.org - PDF free downloads of all issues of the 70's Video Magazine "Radical Software." Really interesting and inspiring stuff.

One thing to note about beta/digibeta is if you did get hold of one you'd still really need a fairly high end video card for your computer for proper device control and highest quality input/output (SDI etc)

Post by **RET80** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 10:32 pm

timdrage wrote:I really want a Portapak! ^_^

ANyone interested in old video formats (especially their use in social/underground/art circles) should check out http://www.radicalsoftware.org - PDF free downloads of all issues of the 70's Video Magazine "Radical Software." Really interesting and inspiring stuff.

One thing to note about beta/digibeta is if you did get hold of one you'd still really need a fairly high end video card for your computer for proper device control and highest quality input/output (SDI etc)

Thanks for the info, I've got a 3D rendering card on my PC, I don't think it should be much of a problem. What's the resolution they import at?

Post by **Patrick** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 4:42 am

BigBeaner: "Could've have said it better Patrick."

Did you mean 'Couldn't have said it better' ?

or

'Could have said it better' ?

Post by **RET80** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 5:00 am

Come to find out I was slightly confused by what VTR meant. I apparently used one before years back but during the make of this thread I had no idea I had actually used one. It was not until afterwards and meeting up with a friend that he showed me an SVHS VTR and it came back to me. I possibly was thinking along the lines of those old 8mm formatted video players that rolled up on spools or something. Never-the-less, my current proline video camera has no option for SCSI ports or uploading as awand said earlier.

Post by **zantizoom8** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 1:14 pm

Betacam?
i was sent to Sony school for training on the betacam-sp bvw-75 back in the early 90s. What do you need to know? (if i can remember anything, although i still have my notes and manual set somewhere.)

Sat Aug 04, 2007 2:31 pm

Any chance you'd like to get rid of that manual? I just picked up a BVW-75 on ebay for $500 but there is no manual.

-Scott

Website · Post by **BigBeaner** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 5:45 pm

Patrick wrote:BigBeaner: "Could've have said it better Patrick."

Did you mean 'Couldn't have said it better' ?

or

'Could have said it better' ?

Woah, couldn't have! That's pretty much the whole history of beta.

Post by **Patrick** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 5:57 pm

Ah...no worries!