Do you own a "Vintage" Camcorders - Minolta CR-3000S-AS

[Hulk]

My parents recently asked me to put some video from their old video camcorders onto DVD. I brought over 4 camcorders from their house and it's like a trip though camcorder yesterday. Right now I'm working with the Minolta CR0300S-AS. I think it is circa 1987. It uses VHS-C tapes. I can't find anything about it online except for an old New York Times article from 1987. I'm wondering if anyone here knows anything about this camera.

I know my parents don't need these camcorders and after I transfer the tape I really don't either but for some reason I'm having a hard time thinking about getting rid of them. They are relics from a long gone age but they are kind of neat artifacts to have around, especially since they all work. The form factor on this one is a shoulder mount! It's actually pretty comfortable to use and has a nice rocker for the zoom. Next up is a 8mm Sony unit that also has the shoulder form factor. I guess I'll clean these up and store them in a box somewhere just in case I need stock photos of old cameras or something.

Anyway how far back does your oldest magnetic recording video camera date?

[xortam]

I have an '88 Sony analog 8mm (CCD-V1, little guy) but unfortunately it has given up the ghost. I hadn't dubbed over the tapes yet either.

[Brian Ellis]

I've always tended to sell or trade in where possible, so my oldest videocam is my trusty old Pana NV_DX1 prosumer (1996) which I still use daily. However my oldest cine cam is a Kodak Brownie double-8 (c. 1950) and I also have a Canon prosumer super-8 1014, a superb instrument with a fantastic lens (c. 1970). My oldest digicam is a Canon Ion RC260 0.37 Mpix, c. 1990. My current digicam is the Nikon D40, which is excellent. My oldest still photo cam is a Coronet mahogany and brass quarter-plate affair with an f8 rapid rectilinear lens and a Thornton-Pickard roller shutter, c. 1890 (in excellent working order!). My oldest "modern" cams are a Kodak Six-20 Popular Brownie Box (c. 1936) and a Braun Paxette 35 mm with a Roeschlein-Kreuznach f2.8 Pointar lens (c. 1953). I have various other cams including 2 Polaroids and my "current" 35 mm is an Asahi Pentax Spotmatic c. 1965, which still does superb sterling service (4 lens).

[Apulo]

Ah, I used to fiddle with the smaller brother of that Canon Super 8, the 814XL. Real nice tool to make animation movies with. I purposely bought it because it had single frame possibility, which my old Elmo didn't.

When cartridges became hard to find (had to order them by the dozen or more) I sold it.

A real pity chemical is on it's way out. It was rather fun to actually cut a cut, and tape it back together

[Dr Mordrid]

Oldest still camera: a model No. 2A Brownie from 1907. My grandfathers.

Oldest 35 mm camera: a 1939 Argus C3. My fathers bought before WWII from the Argus dealer in Ann Arbor, Michigan - where they were made. Tough as f'ing concrete nails and still takes great pictures.

Oldest movie camera: Kodak Instamatic M24 Super 8.

Oldest SLR: Hanimex/Praktica TL (also takes great pix!)

Oldest camcorders: JVC VHS (full), Sony CCD-V90 & Sony TR-55