For any video/photo equipment enthusiasts.

[Dembadon]

This is a (video?)camera I found in a box of my father's things.

These were taken on my cell phone - sorry for the poor quality.

How old do you think this device is?

 

[mgb_phys]

It's an 8mm cine camera = a video camera for a previous generation

Built late 50s early 60s, they aren't worth very much ( $20-30 ?)
An awful lot of them were made and there are still lots of them in people basements.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Yeah, that's not a video camera, it's an 8mm film (movie) camera. I commandeered my families 8mm as a kid and tried to do stop motion animation with it.

Those cameras used 16mm film, strangely enough. You shot one side of the film till you got to the end of the reel, then you had to take it to a dark place, open the camera, and turn the spool over to shoot the other side of the film.

At the photo lab they developed the whole reel, then split it in two and spliced the two lengths together. You got about 3 minutes of footage total.

It was incredibly primitive and cumbersome but I guess the idea was to avoid manufacturing a whole new size of film stock. 16mm was already widely available.

Eventually they saw the error of their ways and "Super - 8" cameras and film came into being. The film was dedicated in size and no turning over, cutting and splicing were required. Just before the advent of home video Super-8 became available with sound! That was an amazing breakthrough for the home cinematographer.

Unfortunately, video rendered it moot almost instantly.

 

[brewnog]

I did some small animations on one of those when I was a kid. I had them transferred to video, now I don't even have a video player! I'll see about getting them transferred to the PC and uploaded somewhere, it was great fun.

 

[LudusRex]

I cannot accurately determine the age of the camera without further information or analysis. However, based on the fact that it was found in a box of your father's things and the poor quality of the photos taken on a cell phone, it is possible that the camera may be several years old. To accurately determine the age of the camera, it would be helpful to know the make and model, as well as any other identifying information or features. Additionally, examining the technology and features of the camera compared to current models may provide some insight into its age.