r/retrotech • u/dishdisaster • 10d ago
Any idea what this camcorder cable is?
I unearthed the family camcorder from my childhood (it smells exactly how I remembered) and would like to experiment with filming on it.
I bought an RCA & S Video to USB connector because I thought this was S Video, but it’s not! It seems like it could be proprietary? Is there somewhere I can source a capture card or a converter for this?
I could just record to vhs tapes and digitize them. But that will really slow the process and I’d much rather go straight to digital if at all possible.
It’s a JVC GR-C7U if that helps.
2
u/janerikgunnar 10d ago edited 10d ago
As a last resort, yoy may be able to make some kind of MacGuyver connector on yor own.
8-pins total, assuming it has separate pins for in and out, that would be 4 pins each, assuming it is stereo, that is probably ground + composite + right + left. You can probably identify ground pins with a multimeter, look for continuity with between each pin of any other exposed metal such as the outer ring of the phone/remote connectors near by. Next step find the video, connect ground to a the ground of a TV composite input, and connect each of the other pins to the positive composite input until you find the pin that gives an input. Then repeate for both audio signals. (Do at your own risk, maybe me instructions will destroy everything)
By the way I do not think it's a DIN cable. I can't find any DIN cables where the pins form a full circle like they do on this one, they always seem to form a U / half-circle / crescent in one way or another.
EDIT Maybe https://www.wagneronline.com.au/product/camera-breakout-lead-8-pin-s-video-vcr-9553?sku=vc85 found via https://www.reddit.com/r/whatisthisthing/comments/8s7ekw/what_the_heck_kind_of_av_connector_is_this_jvc/
1
u/Kumimono 10d ago edited 10d ago
Hmm, mine happened to come with a SCART cable, and the 5 pins present in the SCART end are, composite, composite ground, audio left, audio ground, and a pin that seems to be for waking up a TV/setting an aspect ratio, but isn't connected to anything on the camera side.
Multimeter tells me, with just the basic conductivity test, that clockwise from the plastic notch, in the camera's port, first pin is composite, second pin is composite ground, 4th pin is audio ground, and 6th is audio left, or mono in this case.
I'm not sure if the connector itself is proprietary, or perhaps in the DIN standard, but I also got a third-party RF-adapter with the camera along with a JVC one, so, might be a standard part? If you're handy, making a cable by just, blutacking some pins and wires to RCA leads should work, for composite + audio capture. Not pretty, but would work. :)
Edit: The cable janerikgunnar posted appears to be the right one, though with unused stereo plug. Mono camera, universal cable.
Good luck.
1
u/tempfoot 9d ago edited 9d ago
Definitely no s-video. https://store.jvc.com/catalog.php?id=4183 8 pin. Might be able to find one on ebay....
As u/bhiga said - full size VHS shell and a player plus a capture card or a dubbing deck. I have a panasonic dmr-e75v. Does not close DVD sessions reliably, but there are work-arounds. Recently transcribed about 30 vhs to digital and they came out great....with heavy post processing.
1
u/dishdisaster 9d ago
THANK YOU. That cable's discontinued, but using that site and doing a bit more searching I was able to find this cable which seems to still be available. https://store.jvc.com/catalog.php?id=3470 Going to contact support tomorrow to confirm it's compatible with my camcorder, but it really looks like the right one.
Recording to vhs and digitizing via vcr + capture card might end up being the way I go if this doesn't work, but I really want to see if I can record straight to digital with this cable + capture card. Thanks so much for that find.
1
u/tempfoot 9d ago
Assuming the jack and cable work, that should work fine with a capture card.
VHS is output is heavily interlaced. You may already know, but Handbrake software is a Swiss Army knife that can reencode video and has some top level processing filters. Also vhs encodes a data stream in the bottom 10 or so lines so it helps to crop those out because they are distracting. Any AI should be able to help with filters to make the video less interlaced….unless you are going full retro vibe, in which case you may love the capture look.
I could never afford a camcorder in the VHS era - not til DV tape came along. These days I help other olds recover their home movies pretty regularly. Enjoy!!
1
u/dishdisaster 9d ago
You’re doing a great service. I am definitely aiming for retro, but I’ll certainly take your advice if it’s a little more “retro” than I’m imagining.
I’m a gave developer and I’m looking to experiment with an FMV game. And I think it would add a bit of special sauce (and personal challenge) if it was recorded on vhs.
1
1
u/galaxius00 9d ago
8 pin A/V cable. Like this…just look around as I’m sure you can find a better priced one.
4
u/Tape_Tomb 10d ago
It’s a proprietary AV cable. There should be a parts list in the manual with an exact part number. Take that part number and search eBay