ABSTRACT

Video cameras today come in a variety of shapes and sizes, to suit all pockets and applications. They range from units as small as a peanut, to broadcast cameras that need a couple of people to lift them. Performance ranges from satisfactory to state of the art. You can use a video camera as stand-alone unit, or combine it with others in a multi-camera production. You can record the video camera’s picture on a separate videorecorder – either a VCR (video cassette recorder) or a VTR (reel-to-reel system). This can be carried in a backpack, a shoulder bag, or on a small wheeled cart. An increasing number of video cameras take the form of camcorders, with a VCR either built-in to the camera unit, or attached at its rear. Another approach is to fix a radio transmitter to the camera, and to pick up both picture and sound at a mobile support vehicle/base station (a station wagon or truck), where the program is recorded and/or passed on to a studio center.