Analog film photography and cameras

I'm not familiar with 16mm video. Sure its not 1/2" (such as the old Sony PortaPac)? 3/4" I don't think even was used in reel-to-reel--- 1/2" (PortaPac), 1" (VTR), 2" (Quad) were, I think, the main standards.

Or do you perhaps mean a 16mm cine camera-- film as image storage and not magnetic tape?

Depends really on what it is.. Unless you have old tapes you want to watch--- and you dig deeper you should check if the tapes are still OK given that many magnetic tapes of that era used urethane binders and suffer horribly from "sticky shed syndrome". I don't think its worthwhile, for example, to try to have someone repair an old PortaPac as it can be quite complicated (expensive)--- its cool enough as a "show and tell" working or not.

If its a cine camera.. Depends upon what camera... and the model..

Once I know what you have I can probably send you off in the right direction....
Perhaps while we're at it.... might be good to describe also what is wrong..

My aim is to try to use it for recording.
I have a feeling its the cine camera thing.