Sony CCD-M8u Video 8 camera
 

Hi,
Last weekend my son found a Sony ccd-M8u video camera and the EV-C8 cassette recorder along with the charger,cables and case at Goodwill. We tested the unit when we got home. There was an old tape in the recorder
which was watchable. My son is able to tape and play back his video games
with it.
As for the camera, we're not so lucky. The camera has troubles.
The tape transport won't fully open, the power shuts down after a a minute or two, the camera status indicator lights don't come on, to name a few.
I didn't know 8mm video was around in 1985 till we brought this home.
Does anyone know if this camera used belts to operate the transport?
Does any one have a schematic of the camera, in case it is bad caps.
I won't get to this camera till I finish fixing clutch troubles on a Wollensak
T-1500.
Ed

This camera was the first in the Handycam line from 1985. It is a record-only unit needing a playback deck for more $. I suspect the transport loading is geared. Belts take up a lot of space. If you are using batteries, they are on their last legs and may not have the voltage needed. Not sure how they charged batteries in the day. If you have the AC adaptor it starts to become a cap problem somewhere. Either inside the adaptor or inside the camera. If you have the adaptor can you measure the DC voltage at the silver contacts? 8vDC or so.

I recall hearing that some of the betacams had issues with the surface mount lytics going bad and leaking electrolite that would corrode the board traces. If that was also an issue with the early 8MM units then you may want to address it quickly.

This issue is all across Sony from the day. I have an early Mavica analog camera that member Andy did the restoration on. Surface caps galore gone. It can be saved but at what price?

Dave we do have the charger, but the batteries no longer charge, too old. It did test out 8 to 9 volts. I think you and Tom are right about the caps. Soon
as I get the wollensak finished I'll open it up all the way. The play deck works.
Ed

I think you have the matching player that was sold with that first hand-size camcorder. I remember the TV commercials for those-the Handycam was hidden under a baseball cap. That setup is definitely worth saving, even if you cannot get everything working quickly. In its day, it was shocking to be able to record color video on such an extremely small device. (Never mind that we now record 1080p HD video with our cell phones!)

ChrisW6ATV,
The camera and recorder came with the original case and battery charger.
The charger is designed to charge 4 batteries at a time.
I don't ever recall seeing commercials for the camera and recorder. Our first
video camera was a ccd J.C. Penny (Sharp) VHS-C we bought in 1987, which still works.
My son will be glad to hear of your recommendation to hold on to the Sony 8Mu /
EV-C8 set.
Ed

For those curious, here is a review of this unit with sample footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXLUO-nB_FM

Wonder WHO the Genius at Sony was that decreed Crap caps, & just a general LESSENING of their once-vaunted quality standards ?!? Talk about corporate Hari-Kari...

:yes: I replaced over 80 SMD lytics in my CCD-F series 8mm machine I bought in 1995 - and used about 2 feet of wirewrap wire replacing the runs they corroded. It still has problems in the first 2 or 3 seconds of recording, but settles down and records fine.

A set of calipers (for measuring the size of the old caps to order new ones), a bit of 90% isopropyl to clean things up, and a Digi-Key Catalog, and I had my caps ordered - Panasonics - 22 dollars in all. Then, pull out the caps and replace them one at a time using a low wattage iron, and if there is any corrosion, trace out the runs to ensure you have continuity. I had about 8-10 bad runs. Wirewrap wire worked well in threading the wire around parts and under some. Take plenty of pictures when you are disassembling - helps greatly in reassembling things. Good luck!

It's an issue with their later CCD-V5000 cameras too. I'm finding it even in the high-end cameras too from JVC like the GY-X2. Literally hundreds of them to replace...

Its not so much that they were bad, just cutting edge. The electrolyte formula in early SMD caps wasn't all that stable. Remember that miniaturized capacitors was new tech for the mid to late 80s. Equipment with classic through-hole electrolytic capacitors from the same period usually don't have a problem (at least not yet anyway). It seems that they finally got the formula right by around 1995 or so, as hardware from that period doesn't seem to be suffering as much from the problem.

It can happen with Sony Gear with standard lytics. My buddy has a BVH-3100 (auto threading C format 1" VTR) that was basically DOA. the PS with its big lytics was find but EVERY ELNA brand lytic on it was bad. After replacing 295 caps it is now working sans record because he did not recap that board. and those where all through hole caps.

I've come across communications gear of the same vintage with thru-hole electrolytic capacitors that leak just the same. So the problem isn't isolated to SMD capacitors but certainly they are much worse than the thru hole.

Sony had an extended warranty for the high-8 cameras of the late 90's: my camera was fixed when it failed a year out of warranty, no questions asked.

Got this camera recently in good working conditions. The only thing is a strange light vertical strip at the left edge. For me looks like something mechanical. Tried to move up and down both sliders (focus and color temperature) with no success. Recorded cassette has been tested on several different 8/Hi8 cameras with the same result. Any ideas?

Here is a sample YouTube "raw" video from my camera. And unaltered file below.
https://youtu.be/Savbl134CDk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1in-...ew?usp=sharing