"Vintage" Video Cameras - How do they work

[Shawn Gallagher]

Hi All,

 

I have a really simple question, which I'm (almost) too embarrased to ask. I've been wanting to play around with some old video equipment to see what effects I could squeeze out of them and I got an old Panasonic Newvicon 3160 (as a test camera). My problem is that I can't even figure out how it powers up.

 

I see no battery or power cord, just a 9-pin cord (or 10-pin with one missing) sticking out from the back. Do I need to plug this into some kind of power source? If so what kind? I also have an old portable sony video cassette recorder on the way which looks like it has an input for this cord. Does it power up through a cassette recorder? Please see pictures below. Needless to say, I feel like somewhat of a dumbass for asking this. Thanks so much for any help!

 

 

 

Edited August 23, 2007 by Shawn Gallagher

[Tim O'Connor]

Hi All,

 

I have a really simple question, which I'm (almost) too embarrased to ask. I've been wanting to play around with some old video equipment to see what effects I could squeeze out of them and I got an old Panasonic Newvicon 3160 (as a test camera). My problem is that I can't even figure out how it powers up.

 

I see no battery or power cord, just a 9-pin cord (or 10-pin with one missing) sticking out from the back. Do I need to plug this into some kind of power source? If so what kind? I also have an old portable sony video cassette recorder on the way which looks like it has an input for this cord. Does it power up through a cassette recorder? Please see pictures below. Needless to say, I feel like somewhat of a dumbass for asking this. Thanks so much for any help!

 

I would guess that you wouldn't be able to power up the Panasonic from the Sony.

 

If you do not see any 12V battery or DC connection, maybe the easiest thing to do would be

to see if you can determine what pins in your multi-pin are used to power the camera from a

deck or CCU. I would recommend taking the camera and cable to a t.v./video camera repair shop

and asking a qualified technician about the feasibility and cost of setting you up with power this way.

 

Then, if that works, do you need to send a signal though the multipin to record or can you get video

and audio out separately from the camera?

[John Cummings]

Hi Tim-

 

If the camera doesn't have any video out connectors, chances are it needs to connect to an external CCU for it's power source.

If thats the case, the video also comes out of the CCU.

 

Good luck-

John

[Tim O'Connor]

Hi Tim-

 

If the camera doesn't have any video out connectors, chances are it needs to connect to an external CCU for it's power source.

If thats the case, the video also comes out of the CCU.

 

Good luck-

John

 

 

Good point, John!

 

See any other connections, Shawn?

[Shawn Gallagher]

Good point, John!

 

See any other connections, Shawn?

 

 

Thanks Guys,

 

No other ports or connections one the camera, only that one 9-pin cord going out the back.

 

After a little searching on ebay it seems like a Camera Control Unit is what I'm looking for, but it does seem like most of these units are for cameras that use a 14-pin connection. Was the 14-pin connection a standard for professional video? I hope I can still find a CCU that supports this type of connection.

 

Thanks again for your help!!

[John Cummings]

All the manufacturers had their own cabling scheme between the two units. Usually 26 pin or BNC to the recording deck.

 

You will need to find the exact CCU for that model. If there is a missing pin in that cable, that could be trouble.

Chances are you won't find a CCU by itself without the camera.

 

I wouldn't invest any money into that POS. Even if it works perfectly, you'll be disappointed with what you see.

If you really want to play, there are plenty of old-school 2/3" tube cameras (like Ikegami's) on ebay that don't require a outboard CCU and sell for next to nothing.

 

Ciao

[Tom Wills]

I just happened to stumble across this post, and I actually have some wisdom about Newvicons - I took one apart, put it back together, figured out the wiring, and also did a ton of research, only to find that mine was fried. That 10 pin connector on the back is a VTR connector, not for a CCU, which was used a lot for old home video cameras with outboard VTRs. The VTRs provided power, and then the camera fed it back control signals and composite video and audio. I can't remember where I found the pinout, but I did find it somewhere online, and it was very simple. I just did a quick google for "10 pin VCR pinout" and found some. There's a pin for +12v, a video ground, a power ground, and a pin for CV out. If you can find a "power adapter" for one of these 10 pin cameras on eBay or somewhere else, those often will power the camera and give you RCA outs, which would be a perfect solution. I think the connector might be universal across Sony and Panasonic, but I'm not sure enough to suggest testing it.

 

Good luck with the camera!

Edited October 14, 2007 by Tom Wills

[Walter Graff]

I owned the RCA version of that camera in the late seventies. Yes, it plugged into a VHS deck to work. I don't think you'd like the picture much if you saw it today. But as one poster put it, you could probably find the pin outs somewhere on the web.