There where made in the '80's videocameras (like one from the link above) which where fiitted with the posibilty to change lens (like at cameras, for eg you took out the 50 mm lens and install 35 mm lens). :lock:
How was the image providesd by those cameras? (good, so and so or poor?)
These cameras have a specific name?
http://forum.softpedia.com/index.php?act=Attach&type=post&id=43904

I've played with a few of those old video cameras. They were ok, but the tube pickup needed a lot of light and tended to smear if there was too much light. Most of them didn't allow you to remove the lens. I actually had VCR G as a kid and used it for several years with an early RCA CCD camera (both were garage sale finds).

Come to think of it I also had VCR E (the Sears version), several of VCR F under a number of brnads (made by Panasonic) and VCR J (also a Panasonic).

These cameras typically used a single vidicon tube with a color stripe pattern that consisted of yellow stripes on one diagonal angle and cyan stripes on the opposite diagonal angle. You then got red and blue signals modulated by the stripe frequency, and they could be separated by a comb filter because of the opposite angles. The low-pass signal (minus the stripe carriers could be used as the luminance. The electrical focus had to be even across the faceplate, or the white balance would show a shading from magenta in the well-focussed area to green in the poorly focussed area. Because the vidicon has a built-in non-linear "gamma correction" characteristic, the red and blue signals would be modulated somewhat inversely by the luminance, resulting in somewhat poor color rendition - generally green saturation was weak and red and blue were emphasized. As circuitry got more sophisticated, the color was improved, but when CCD pickups came out, picture quality made a giant leap forward in color quality, lower noise, and no smear.

I enharited an "Sharp" QC-54 camera, and an an "TKM" Model No. 1030 portable V.C.R. (manufactured in February 1985). The whole sistem works in Never Twice the Same Colour :D The problem is that the portable V.C.R. is brocken (it caught an tape today); fourtenley, my home V.C.R. records in N.T.S.C. 3.58 too, and you can recorred on N.T.S.C. on the P.A.L./SECAM video cassets (the recording time will ve smaller, hower, because the tape speed is bigger on N.T.S.C.).
The cammera offers quyte an awfoul image (but I don't have another camera at the time beeing), and dosen't have Macro lenses (so the image will get curved, if I put the zoom).
If this wasn't enough, I must use an transformer, becuase the portable V.C.R. works on 120 V A.C., not 220 V A.C. And the acumators are brocken (the camera easn't use for unless 8 yrs.)
The camera
http://www.labguysworld.com/Sharp_QC-54.htm
Can I use an ordinary audio cable as an remote camera cable?

I have 3 old video cameras from 1983-1984 that use vidicon tubes (or as Sony called it, the Trinicon tube.) They are one of the first consumer all in one units: Sony Betamovie BMC-110. I have that one, and an identical Sanyo and Toshiba clone of it. Image is very smeary at times, and white balance was kinda crappy. Manual focus. These were record only with one head.

If you want to get a better image with one of these old cameras, try to bring more light in the location in whych you are recodring.

But this camera deserves the money?
http://cgi.ebay.com/Ikegami-Television-Camera-ITC-730A-extra-Viewfinder_W0QQitemZ7563424394QQcategoryZ21165QQrd Z1QQcmdZViewItem

The camera is pretty neat, being the first all in one camera. And as you said, it does perform well in bright areas outdoors and such. For Beta collectors there is a demand for it I suppose. Here's a picture of my Betamovies.

Funny you'd mention the BMC-110. A thrift near me has a nice-looking one in its case for $35. They also have a GCS-1, which is a SuperBetaMovie with a CCD. $20, but I didn't like the fact there was a tape still in it, and I hear the caps on BetaMovies can eat away at the boards if they leak. I passed on them both, however cool it would have been to get one. I have too much to get fixed already!

@tv_beta_guy: my camera it's V.H.S., not Beta. I still use it :D I dont' have another video camera.

Here is the whole "instalation": :D
http://forum.softpedia.com/index.php?act=Attach&type=post&id=69103