Where to rent a VHS camcorder in Montreal
November 20, 2008 10:03 AM Subscribe
Is there a place to rent VHS camcorders in Montreal? For a long and sordid tale of eBay, bricked batteries, due dates and bitter, bitter disappointment,
I have to make a short film for an Alternative Approaches to Media class, and I decided to go all Jon Moritsugu and shoot the thing on an old-timey VHS camcorder, with all of the awesome image quality that entails. After searching through local thrift stores, I ended up buying an old VHS camcorder on eBay, which took forever to get here. The battery was bricked, but you can plug the camcorder into the wall, and I decided to buy a new battery. This took another week to get here, but finally I was all ready to shoot.
Then the charger fell off of a table with the battery on it and cracked the casing.
First I soldered it back together- in retrospect, a bad idea. It worked for a day or so before crapping out, so I bought two NEW batteries, which got here yesterday- thank god, you know, because I have to start shooting this weekend. Except neither of the batteries work. Unless I want my entire film to take place within four feet of an outlet, I need to find a new camcorder, with alacrity. Should I just give up on my VHS dreams? Should I quit being an ironic hipster d-bag? And, most importantly, is there anyone in Montreal who might have a shitty old camera for rent?
I have to make a short film for an Alternative Approaches to Media class, and I decided to go all Jon Moritsugu and shoot the thing on an old-timey VHS camcorder, with all of the awesome image quality that entails. After searching through local thrift stores, I ended up buying an old VHS camcorder on eBay, which took forever to get here. The battery was bricked, but you can plug the camcorder into the wall, and I decided to buy a new battery. This took another week to get here, but finally I was all ready to shoot.
Then the charger fell off of a table with the battery on it and cracked the casing.
First I soldered it back together- in retrospect, a bad idea. It worked for a day or so before crapping out, so I bought two NEW batteries, which got here yesterday- thank god, you know, because I have to start shooting this weekend. Except neither of the batteries work. Unless I want my entire film to take place within four feet of an outlet, I need to find a new camcorder, with alacrity. Should I just give up on my VHS dreams? Should I quit being an ironic hipster d-bag? And, most importantly, is there anyone in Montreal who might have a shitty old camera for rent?
I'd post on Craigslist (under "wanted" or "misc" or "electronics"), and also on the Montreal Livejournal group -- I've gotten a lot of last-minute help from both sources.
posted by OLechat at 3:17 PM on November 20, 2008
posted by OLechat at 3:17 PM on November 20, 2008
Rent a dv camera & adjust the look in post? Get a crappy little flash camera instead? (Beware the shearing in some cameras.)
posted by Pronoiac at 11:09 PM on November 21, 2008
posted by Pronoiac at 11:09 PM on November 21, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by JJ86 at 11:44 AM on November 20, 2008