Look Mom, No Tape

Today Brad was off. So I had the double duty of shooting and reporting. So today was my first time using the new P2 camera. If you've read Brad's blog then you know these cameras don't use tape. Everything is recorded on a card.

Everything was fine today. No problems. But I do miss the clicking sound you get from the camera's that use tape. You know something's going on in there. But tape is slipping into the past, just like film.

When Channel 19 went on the air in 1963, they were using 16mm film for all news stories. They didn't have sound and the film had to be driven back to the station and run through a film developing processor. So there was no quick turn around of shooting something and then getting it on the air. Over the years sound finally came, then color. In 1979 the station switched to videotape. It was called three-quarter tape. It was big and bulky. The station was still using this when I started interning in 1997. So I got use the 3/4 gear. Not fun. The camera was one piece, and then the recorder was another piece.

In 1998, the station switched to the DVC Pro format. It was digital videotape. Much easier to use and the picture quality is also better. Huntsville is still using DVC. But Sand Mountain and the Shoals are now tape free.