OT: Betamax Player

jrazz wrote on 9/27/2007, 8:41 AM
I never owned one, but am now in need of one. ebay has several but I am unsure of what would be a good model to get. I have a guy who wants to convert some old betamax tapes to DVD. I have a stand alone DVD recorder as well as an ADS Pyro that I could easily use to capture the footage. The tapes are already formatted for broadcast as that is what they did with them back then (when I say formatted I mean they were the right lengths which allowed for commercials).

Any idea on what brand/model I should look for. He has around 20 to 30 tapes he said and this will probably be the only time I would ever use it. We do not have any rental places around here that would have something like that, but they look cheap enough on ebay, but again, I don't know what I am looking for. I will need NTSC.

j razz

Comments

Cheno wrote on 9/27/2007, 9:34 AM
Are these Betamax or Betacam? If they were commercial tapes, most likely they were Betacam. Betamax was a consumer format that Betacam derived from as a professional format.

This will determine what kind of deck you may need to purchase / rent.

-cheno
jrazz wrote on 9/27/2007, 9:47 AM
I will need to double check with him as he has no clue and neither do I as I have not seen them and he was just in the productions.

I will report back once I get a final answer on it. Thanks for the clarification.

j razz
tumbleweed2 wrote on 9/27/2007, 1:42 PM

I'm sure Cheno is right, especially when you mentioned broadcast. Try to pick up a BVW SP series(best), UVW being the lowest. They should have the hours listed(drum head hours) also. below 2K hours, considered low.
jrazz wrote on 9/27/2007, 1:54 PM
Thanks. I am still waiting on a response on the tape type. The events were Memphis Wrestling from back in Jerry Lawler's hay day. So, they could be either one really given the nature of wrestling and that it was Memphis Wrestling.

j razz
richard-courtney wrote on 9/27/2007, 6:41 PM
If it is Betamax, I have a Sony SL-7200A that will play Beta I speed.
Note: there is a slower tape speed Beta II.
jrazz wrote on 9/27/2007, 6:55 PM
I learn all kinds of new things about old technology :)

I did get a call back from him tonight and he stated that he has a mixture of SVHS, and Beta something. He doesn't know which ones yet, but he will try to figure it out and get back with me once he gets a hold of the guy who has them.

j razz
GaryAshorn wrote on 9/28/2007, 3:26 PM
I still have two working Betamax decks. Both Sanyos and they record and play back beautiful. I keep old tape systems around for conversions for people. We even do 8-track repair and recording.

Gary
John_Cline wrote on 9/28/2007, 4:39 PM
Both early Betacam and Betamax use the exact same physical tape cassette, although the labels usually made a distinction. However, the recording format between the two is completely incompatible. If these are indeed Betamax cassettes, then it might be practical to buy a used Betamax deck on eBay for this one-time transfer. Even the lowest-end used Betacam deck (like the UVW-1800) in less than terrific condition is still well over $1,000. You can just rent one for a day or two.

John
jrazz wrote on 9/30/2007, 5:42 PM
I just met with the guy and he showed me one of the tapes. It is betacam not betamax. I explained to him the cost factor for buying one and told him of the option to rent. He said he would look into that possibility. The other tapes are SVHS. Just in a quick search I found a couple players in the 150-250USD range.

j razz