BetacamSP PVW-2800

Jay Fredrick · October 22, 2011

For Sale a used PVW-2800 edit recorder BetaSP, as listed as an Ebay auction. $0.99USD for first bid.

Pictures Galore - Click here to see the condition from all sides!.

As-is Sony Betacam PVW-2800 - Professional Editing Video Recorder - And no reserve, unheard of! NTSC

I used this to encode the last of my tapes to digital format, and then even used this machine as a regular off the air recorder. UPDATE: Tested today and is fully functional. The only thing I didn't test was y/c s-video mode! It does have the mounted male rack rails, I do not have the receiving rail kit. Like other VTRs of this vintage the hour meter was a mercury bulb for drum hours, which like other Sony machines the hour meter was the part that tended to go out first. I have no actual hour count but this machine came from a working mobile van as a 2nd playout machine. While I have no definitive way of telling the head and drum wear, I did clean it recently and the heads seem to be on the newer side based on the feel of the IPA cleaning cloth. This is by no means scientific, but the old school way of cleaning the heads can tell you if they are end of life.

There is some cosmetic wear inspect the photos carefully of racking and unracking marks, and equipment was probably stored on top as there are mars and scuffs, see photos. No bent metal, tape carriage operates smoothly.

Item is for pickup only

The funny thing about BetaSP! is that back in the 90's I worked for two TV stations that would have killed for just such a machine and at the time $30,000 for a studio edit recorder would have been for only the best of the best to get the quality. Both facilities used U-matic SP 3/4" VTRs at the time, which was old even by that era. I never dreamed I would have had this unit for my own since the video quality and reliability are second to none.. Incidentally the third station in town used to roll footage off of SVHS which was really fun to watch jamming on air. This unit is one of the last of the great era of truly great direct drive analog video recorders!