Sony SMF Trinicon HVC-2800/SL-2000 Portable Betamax Test Footage (1982)

Описание: The first tube camera to appear on this channel. The HVC-2800 was released in early 1982, with this unit being manufactured in May 1982. I purchased this camera for $70 off shopgoodwill, along with it's carrying case and external microphone. This setup predates the Betamovie camcorder, and thus the video camera and recorder are separate units, linked by a 14-pin cable. These units weren't super common due to the bulk and inconvenience, and died extremely quickly when the camcorders hit the market (such as Sony's Betamovie in 1983, and JVC's VideoMovie in 1984).

This is one of the best prosumer video cameras Sony offered in 1982. Featuring a single Saticon pickup tube, along with an RGB stripe filter, the HVC-2800 delivered great low light operation along with very good color, very similar to Sony's early CCD cameras. Sony called this type of tube the "SMF Trinicon", with SMF standing for "Saticon Mixed Field".

The VCR I'm using with this camera is an SL-2000 (SL-F1 outside North America) portable Betamax recorder. This VCR can run off a 12V battery, the NP-1. (I had mine rebuilt since it didn't hold a charge anymore) It can also be plugged into a TT-2000 tuner/timer unit and can be used just like a regular home VCR, for recording television programs. Released in August 1981, the SL-2000 was very small for it's time, and quite expensive. My unit was manufactured in late 1981, around December. I got lucky and purchased mine for $40 off eBay. It has great build quality.

Yes I know, in some of the shots I messed up the white balance. If you're bothered by this, I'll make another video with more footage. Just comment below if you want another video on this beast.

Footage recorded on Sony SL-2000, BII speed, L-750 HG cassette. Video captured using Sony DCR-TRV520 Digital8 camcorder, using DV over Firewire. Audio captured with Audacity. Deinterlaced with QTGMC to 60p, upscaled to 1080p, and encoded to H.264 with StaxRip. Other editing done in Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2018.