old VX1000 still lives

[akkers]

I have a Sony VX1000 which I bought back in around 1999 and used it extensively until 2011. Then I moved to digital and retired the VX1000 to the attic.
Then recently I had the need to get some footage off an old DV tape. After panicking I got the VX1000 out and charged up the battery and inserted it. Low and behold the camera fired up ok. I was then expecting the heads to be damp and clogged up but no. I inserted a tape and it played it first time, no problems. Vow.
So a 24 years old VX1000 lives and works after 12 years in storage. Hats off to Sony!
I bet they dont make them like that anymore.

[Bwaak]

I have a Sony VX1000 which I bought back in around 1999 and used it extensively until 2011. Then I moved to digital and retired the VX1000 to the attic.

You moved from digital to digital?

I bet they dont make them like that anymore.

Like what? Tape-based, standard def?

[akkers]

No, VX1000 recorded on mini DV tapes with SD resolution. Yes the content on tape was recorded in digital format but the whole machanism was analogue. Going to digital transformed to totally digital inc SD cards etc. and very few mechanical parts.

[Bwaak]

No, VX1000 recorded on mini DV tapes with SD resolution. Yes the content on tape was recorded in digital format but the whole machanism was analogue. Going to digital transformed to totally digital inc SD cards etc. and very few mechanical parts.

Are hard disk drives analogue?

In any case, I don't see anything special in a 24-year old camcorder still functioning properly. have a 30-year old VHS camcorder that works just fine. Hats off to JVC I guess.

Happy for you that the camcorder still works. Nowadays it is less common to find a computer with a Firewire port and with the drivers for the camcorder. I have a 1999 DV camcorder, but its drivers only support Win98/ME/2000. Starting from XP, the camcorder is not recognized by Windows and cannot be captured from. Screw JVC, I guess.

[Alwyn]

Bwaak, stop being a sour-sob. It's great this stuff is still running after all this time. Quality build you won't find these days.

Then I moved to digital and retired the VX1000 to the attic.

You moved from digital to digital?

It is pretty obvious what akkers meant.

[Bwaak]

It's great this stuff is still running after all this time. Quality build you won't find these days.

I think that stuff works 24 years after being manufactured is perfectly normal. My 2006 MiniDV camcorder works. 2007 SD-card camcorder works too. Plasma TV. 2013 Macbook Pro still has 75% capacity of the original battery. I reject the idea that current stuff is designed for intentional obsolescence any more than a 1960s Holden Falcon

[akkers]

Bwaak - if you have a firewire port then you can connect your camcorder to it and you should see the pic in suitable software; drivers are probably not always required.
I have used a free program called Scenalyzer which is discontinued now but you can still grab a copy here http://www.scenalyzer.com/. It works a treat in displaying and capturing DV footage.
There is also Virtualdub which is free and can capture DV though I have not tried it myself.