1 YR NDSA: PXL ED.
- By Fredrick
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But instead of this I decided to bite the bullet and carry on. I like going on adventures, and sharing them with complete strangers makes me feel like I'm wandering with some sort of purpose. So I washed another 100-some-odd-dollars down the toilet and renewed. So I guess the world is stuck with another year of this nonsense.
However, the good news, after over a year my PXL-2000 camera is finally functional. When I started this webpage it was with all intents to solely post PXL videos. Of course I'm glad that I've found other niches, but I'm also elated that I finally got this ancient piece of equipment up to speed with the modern world. I bought the camera back in Brooklyn and installed RCA jacks for audio and video out, so it could be recorded directly to digital format on a slave camera (aiptek). I soldered and altered and was pretty proud of myself, but still I couldn't get it to work. In the end it ended up just sitting around, a constant $80 reminder of my overzealous spending.
Just recently while I was at Market Market in Rosendale I mentioned the camera to a friend of mine who is savvy with the technical stuff, Brian Macaluso who runs a computer repair shop in New Paltz, and he seemed pretty enthusiastic about it. So the next day I brought it by the shop and he took a look at it, instantly identifying that what was lacking was a ground wire. Just in case any of you amateurs out there are thinking of doing any circutry, just be aware that ground wires are important and cannot be neglected. In a second flat Brian soldered on a new ground and we were in business. The next day I rerouted it to run off one 9-volt instead of 6 AA batteries and took it outside.
The footage is incredible; it's simultaneously beautiful and spooky. It's the kind of camera that you'd have with you if you ever saw a real life Bigfoot. Just defined enough to suggest that something is happening, but vague enough that you have to fill in the blanks. It flickers like old super 8 film, but circumvents the need for pricey developing and provides you with immediate review of your work. I just walked around for a while filming some stuff; old barns, Miranda, my cat Chip, a stream in the woods. This is basically just a test run, but it's worth checking out for sure. I still have a few glitches that need to be addressed with the camera, but once it's up and running expect more of this to come.
Music by Black Mold.
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