Camcorders: The Scoop
These handy devices are a great way for people to record important events and create home movies. They are an improvement over film cameras in the sense that there is no film, so there is nothing to develop. Much better video and sound quality were also offered. However, the only problem is encoding; in the Americas and Japan, NTSC is the standard, and in Europe and the rest of the world, PAL and PAL/Secam are used. These formats cannot be played back on machines that are not of their type. Enjoy the collection of camcorders that Ethan's museum has to offer.
Camcorders: The Collection
Sharp Viewcam VL-E610 (early 2000's)
This camcorder features an LCD display panel, mono audio, the ability to add text while recording (such as "Happy Birthday"), a fade out feature, 16x power zoom, and an on-board VCR. Quite advanced for its time. Records in NTSC. Made in Japan. Check out the video below to see the cassette ejecting and loading mechanism.
Sharp Viewcam VL-AH130 (circa 2003)
This camcorder is almost identical to the one above, except for the newer front design and the input/output ports being moved to the side of the unit, rather than the back. Additionally, the camera was made in Malaysia instead of Japan like the previous model. Also records in NTSC.
Sony Handycam Video Camera Recorder CCD-TR402E (circa 1997)
This is the oldest camcorder in Ethan's Museum. It features a viewfinder, 26x digital zoom, an onboard VCR, a title function, 5 hour battery life (with the biggest battery they have, of course), a counter, and a backlight (for low light settings). The viewfinder display is in black and white. This machine records in PAL.
Videocassettes
Just a couple of example videocassettes that were used in these camcorders.