Using a 𝐍𝐄𝐖 VHS-C Camcorder! JVC SXM250 from 2003

Unboxing a new old stock Super VHS video camera! This JVC GR-SXM250u is pretty similar to the original camera that I used to record LGR back in the day, and it was a real treat to experience one that was unused. So let's get this electronic treat opened up and tested out, and record some video tapes decades later!
● LGR links:
/ lazygamereviews
/ lazygamereviews
/ lazygamereviews
● JVC marketing video comparing S-VHS to VHS:
• JVC's S-VHS vs. VHS Of...
00:00 JVC GR-SXM250U
01:01 The Original LGR Camera
02:30 Super VHS tapes
03:45 Early 2000s camcorder options
04:59 Unboxing the SXM250
11:33 Power on, retail demo
14:29 Testing a VHS-C tape
16:15 On-camera features, menus
19:51 Out and about recording things!
29:48 Playback on a CRT TV
33:52 Live feed, summing things up
● All background music licensed from:
www.epidemicsou...
#LGR #camera #unboxing #retro #video

[@brunosardine1]

I cannot explain how much of a mindfreak it is to see this VHS footage. Like conceptually I understand that it was filmed in 2023, but without the context of the video I would be 100% convinced it was from the turn of the century

[@fus132]

21:17 Outside the cars good luck putting a date on this one

[@boowiebear]

We are so spoiled. I grew up with VHS and can’t believe how bad it looks! 😂

[@jr2904]

​@@boowiebearyou need a CRT to complete the experience lol. I can't believe I grew up playing games on a 13 inch crt, but it was great at the time lol. From the late '90s to the midlate '00s

[@boowiebear]

@@jr2904You are probably right it would look more “correct” on a CRT! I was prepared for it to be worse when he switched but just wild how it crushes color and dynamic range. Video quality today is really remarkable.

[@MattExzy]

A lot of news footage of that era to me now looks like the 1980s, even if it were shot on higher quality gear. It's a weird effect.

[@raduorza883]

There's something special about filming modern stuff using an old vhs camcorder. It's like a visitor from the past came in the future and tried documenting it.

[@johnboydojo]

What a great way of looking at it! Well said!

[@willm5032]

I've got a 2003ish Samsung, and I'm filming hardcore bands on it, something really cool about footage that looks like it's from an early 2000s skate video hahah

[@raduorza883]

@@willm5032 That must look at least AWESOME! I love those kind of videos. They bring a little nostalgia from when I've been watching old rock bands music videos! I hope it goes viral. (still watching old videos, like "Live at Pompeii")

[@micknightmare3]

I want to sniff it too 😤

[@RedTroPc]

I recorded my trip to Germany on my vhs-c camcorder. I just need a capture card and to edit the footage

[@CodyShell]

no better way to welcome a cold rainy/snowy November morning with a crisp LGR unboxing

[@davidt3563]

Time to put on that pull over hoody and press that play button!

[@ryouma1717]

wanna trade places? would love me a nice snowy day, its currently hot as satans ballsack over here

[@SuzuQQ]

Trade with me it's still hot in LA

[@Alef.93]

It's 40°c here.

[@norkshit]

LGR always hits different in the holiday season

[@RegularCupOfJoe]

Yes, the digital zoom was so bogus. I remember my family got a camcorder with 700x digital zoom... have you ever seen the space between pixels?

[@trevvrun1]

Lmao

[@borjesvensson8661]

THE SPACE BETWEEN PIXELS. The new SI-FI opus soon in a movie theater near you

[@ferdinandbeck9719]

700 😂

[@mikafoxx2717]

​@@GawrGurasBathTubPizzaphones are starting to utilize digital zoom alright, using 10mp sensors and cropping in. The lens can only resolve 100mp in the very center anyways, which is why even the best full frame digital cameras are only 50mp ish, the lenses to resolve that corner to corner are.. well, a lot. 2k+ for a fixed 50mm lens type deal.

does anyone know if digital zoom/digital effects/picture stabilizer means the whole video signal is being converted to digital and then back to analog for the tape? i wonder how highlight clipping and low light noise appear with all these digital "enhancements"...

[@davidt3563]

Man the video quality made me incredibly nostalgic for the late 90s early 2000s. Getting my license, 87 cent gas, video taping my friends playing UT, Quake 2, martial arts etc. It's hard to believe that it was 23 years ago.

[@MontegaB]

It was a pretty cool time to be young :)

[@JesterDyne]

Quake 2? Yeah I did that for Nostalgia on a VHS Tape and recaptured it in glory of the Q2 Remaster :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/oZW2naGBi7KEitU

[@steves3649]

Man, I remember when gas was that cheap and a Number 1 was only 3-4 bucks.....movie ticket was 4$.

[@davidt3563]

​@@steves3649Yup, 4 bucks with a student ID or on Mon-Weds matinee showings.

[@allthingsmotor1073]

We probably would have been good friends.

[@lameashecc467]

I donno if its just because of the conditioning we went through in the 90's; but going through old camcorder footage feels oddly personal and intimate. It feels super slice of life-y

[@PopeCromwell]

Buying tapes and filling them prompted a different kind of video. Today's 5-10s clips and photographs don't produce that same 'stepping back in time' feel that old home video did. I don't think it is a change for the better! It's quantity over quality.

[@UpgradeUrWinRARTrial]

It’s the 60 FPS, soft image quality, smooth optical zoom, and the organic hand shake as the camcorder moves around

[@growingup15]

It feels like that because back when peopled filmed just to be filming. They did it because they wanted to record their life and had no reason to be fake. Unlike today where most people record in hopes of getting famous so they try to make everything as polished as possible and be as fake as possible. we had a bit of that for awhile on the internet with Early KZbin from 2006-2013 before everyone realized they can make money off this platform and the internet as a whole.

[@theandrewcummins]

@@growingup15you just summed up a rant I made to my poor wife as she was asking me why I have acquired 8 old camcorders in a week…. Yeah. 😬

[@Darxide23]

As a massive fan of things like analog horror, I have to say that you just futzing around with this camera around town already looks a thousand times better than the junk analog filters everyone runs their video through during editing. More amateur creators need to invest in a new-old stock camcorder like this. They were so common and popular that there has to be a deep supply of such things still out there for cheap-ish.

[@Benrob0329]

I feel like you could use VHS footage as era-appropriate B-roll every now and again.

[@Toonrick12]

Heh. Just see his next video.

[@SnepperStepTV]

Yeah honestly why are so many youtubers who show this stuff so afraid to actually use it.

[@RT-qd8yl]

@@GawrGurasBathTubPizza Then you make the parts you need like anything else? Do you buy EVERYTHING you use and are able to produce nothing?

[@lexpinkmoon]

i love clint going into his history with a similar camcorder because it really goes to show that you don't need to shell out so much money on-top-of-the-line tools to start creating something worthwhile, or even to start a creative career; what you use always comes second to how you use it. don't let not being able to afford the latest and greatest stop you from doing something you love

[@LGR]

Truth!

[@yeahthedolphins]

Well said. I started a channel for filming football games last year and have only just recently graduated from using my phone to using a budget camcorder. Is it the most professional-looking footage? No, but it does the job and I'm quite happy with it.

[@Ralph-yn3gr]

Ah man, I forgot how... cozy VHS looks. I never had a camcorder, but it's still nice to be reminded of those first generation KZbin videos. I think it would be kinda neat if you made the occasional video with it. Sort of a throwback kind of thing.

[@blunderingfool]

We digitized my grandfather's recordings recently from the sony handy-cam he had when we were children. The picture quality to an analogue TV is just unreal.

[@bf0189]

That 80s smooth jazz track you played during the retail demo is unironically amazing and very authentic sounding despite it being royalty free music. Sounds kinda like Grover Washington and John Klemmer like my Dad used to listen when I was a kid. You have fantastic ears. I can tell you put in effort into finding the right music

[@4Wilko]

12:09 - [retail inspired easy listening music]

[@ainlLeek]

@@4Wilko That would have been the perfect spot for some vaporwave.

[@PopeCromwell]

Agreed! it's nice to have a change from chiptunes or game OSTs that proliferate every other retrocomputing channel.

[@benjaminmendenhall4497]

I love that 80s smooth jazz track too

[@bigdavey8863]

Very weather channel local on the 8s

[@hammondeggsmusic]

Something I noticed with both this camera and old footage I have from my old video cameras: We take “clips” now with our phones, but with a camcorder it felt like you immediately fell back in to how videos were taken in the past - lots of random footage with talking (ooo squirrel, pumpkin etc), and so much *longer* shots. Having all of that storage really helped capture so much!

[@MrWolfSnack]

Anyone with a brain will not use a phone camera. I never used one. I have real video cameras I carry with me every day.

[@amaruqlonewolf3350]

@@MrWolfSnack Sounds like you prefer inconvenience more than anything else here.

[@MrWolfSnack]

Sounds like you are ignorant and with an IQ lower than a turnip farmer. @@amaruqlonewolf3350

[@DarthCrust66]

There’s something very nostalgic about that raw camcorder footage like watching old family videos

[@MKR3238]

its like a fake time capsule, oddly comforting (well, except the woods at night part lol) even tho it was shot today

[@vwestlife]

With vintage video and photography equipment, you're not capturing a perfect replication of real life; you're creating art. The imperfections add texture and leave more to the imagination.

[@J.Wick.]

Hard to beat that era of JVC. Miss them in the US market these days. They were always my go to for bang for buck.

[@jazeenharal6013]

They really were decent products

[@riggles]

In the US they were decent that is, in Europe JVC had mostly bottom of the barrel rebranded cheap crap, a really low tier brand here especially for TVs. They were nothing compared to Philips, Finlux, Loewe, Metz, Nokia. B&O, Sony, Toshiba, Grundig etc.

[@J.Wick.]

@@rigglesThats unfortunate. And FAR from what I've experienced in the US Market. IF you're talking LCD TVs I could see it. But they're Tube TVs and stereos were among the tops. As were their Car Audio (now with Kenwood) I would easily put them on the same level as Sony, Pana, etc. Philips is hit or miss here, as is Toshiba, and Grundig isn't what it used to be. Anywho, cheers!

[@TORQUENDB]

​@@J.Wick.I still regularly use a 32" JVC D-Series CRT for playing console games from the PS2 generation and earlier. IMO it looks just as nice as a Trinitron but it's a lot lighter (~110lbs vs nearer 200 for a flat screen Sony of similar size and age)

[@yukisaitou5004]

​​​@@rigglesthe last curved Widescreen sets they sold in the UK were decent, my JVC 28" certainly outperformed the flat Sanyo set of the same size my grandparents bought a few years later on which the bad geometry was apparent even to me in my early teens just playing video games.

[@-ZodiacPrince-]

It's honestly enough to trick me and send me back all the way back to the 90s... You just can't replicate the authentic 90s video experience with modern technology.

[@legendarydragoon]

I was experiencing this too while watching, it sort of transported me back. Like Clint mentioned too, he had just recorded it, but upon rewatch it looked like it was 20 years ago haha.

[@j_c2225]

Well, technically the 00s as this was from 2003. But the 90s and early 00s weren’t exactly all that different

[@MrDeelightful]

This was a fun little throwback to the early days of your channel. It's sure cool how The Blair Witch Project defined that creepy nighttime forest VHS aesthetic. I think most of us went right there mentally when you were shooting at night in your backyard. Great video as always, I love to watch you having fun with the topic!

[@rarephoenix]

I still haven't seen that movie

[@CptJistuce]

​@@rarephoenixSame here.

[@chubbycatfish4573]

There's something about that less sharp VHS aesthetic that really looks good.

[@Zarnubius]

since the early 2xxx's I've been telling peple that perfect pixels will ruin the magic pf displays. prpjectprs are the last bastipn pf fuzzy magic. np aliasing, np encpding artifacts, and ypur mind fills in sp much that it feels mpre real than ultra HD tp where HD/UHD feels fake. U have tp let the mind fill in spme pf the image pr ypu get uncunny valley. Mpdern games lppk realistic pn a fuzzy enugh display.

[@Chaos89P]

​@@ZarnubiusYou ever try playing a modern game on a CRT?

[@Zarnubius]

@@Chaos89P yes, just about every day. My second monitor is a CRT. I run DSR resolutions (1400 x 1050) @ 90hz. Cyberpunk has been great with full 4:3 support and looks amazing on CRT, and you can crank the graphics with great frames still. Full overdrive RT.

[@Chaos89P]

@@Zarnubius If only I knew how to letterbox my own setup. I don't do a lot of PC gaming.

[@cleanycloth]

There’s something just right about seeing Clint through a VHS camcorder. Brings me back 😄

[@TAGMedia7]

Thank you for properly deinterlacing your footage and rendering at 60p. Too many people miss this crucial step for preserving camcorder fluidity.

[@ct_ham]

I feel like you posted this just for me. I've been watching your channel for years. This summer, I started to get into filmmaking and I'm literally sitting here now with a similar JVC SVHS-C Camcorder from 2001 trying to figure out how I could justify shooting with it. Thank you for this!

[@riythemusicguy7696]

I love old cameras and this is so cool!!! Thanks for reviewing this Clint

[@IntoTheMindlessAbyss]

This is why I have always respected and enjoyed your content throughout the years. This one hits really close to home for me. This is the same camcorder my mother got for me on my 17th birthday of 2003. Very special moment for me that was.

[@ThatDudeArvai]

Woah! Your LGR startup camera is the SAME camera my dad used to capture all of our childhood memories. I'm currently converting all of our tapes to digital and I pulled it out to test it with a new battery and it still works flawlessly. Great camera.

[@Jef_Vermassen]

Its amusing how easily you can go back in time just by looking to something recorded on a cam and displayed on CRT. :D It really felt like it was shot 20 years ago. Love it! Also, LGR Witch Project was perfection :>

[@novelezra]

YES! I hope this is a start of an old camcorder phase. My favorite vids from vwestlife are the ones on old cameras and LGR's digital camera reviews are wonderful

[@CoreyDeWalt]

Same here

[@BrendaEM]

The funny thing is: once you turned on the shot video, I was like I can't believe how bad it is and how much video is now, BUT THEN, after a few minutes, my brain started figuring out what it was doing to the scene, and it wasn't so bad. So, it's like where it went bad, is easier for the mind to correct that when digital goes bad. Fun review. Thank you.

[@noiteetion9372]

Would love to see your next video recorded on this beauty. Something nostalgic, with appropriate video quality to match. Imagine opening your video with a door wipe, into a corner wipe transition, then ending with a fade out finish.

[@alexthetiger7806]

A beautiful camcorder, shiny, silver, and new. The 2003 aesthetics all over the camcorder. Clint's relaxing narration. Just when I thought it couldn't be any more of a satisfying video, boom, 12:10 with some smooth jazz over the camcorder demo. Heavenly

[@ShawnStovall]

Honestly it looks like you're having so much fun and this video is just a pleasure! So cool!

[@DaveAdams222]

That late-90s, early-2000s Weather Channel music at 12:10

[@birdbrain4445]

3:05 I have to say, this thing wrapped in wood grain, as well as being in the channel colours, also makes it look *phenomenal* man.

[@broccoliface4501]

I'm getting heavy "Dad recording on family holidays" nostalgia

[@goo3r]

I remember using camera like these so vividly. Even the ramblyness of recording on VHS because you had the power of video and it was novel. Loved the video.

[@zerocooler7]

Watching with the captions, and I love this: [laid-back unboxing music] [general cardboard noises]

[@Sawolf151]

Just adding how nostalgic your footage looks but also makes you understand why horror movies and games like to emulate all of that. Those night shots gave me goosebumps!

[@basarbolat]

An LGR Thrifts episode filmed with this camera would be so freaking awesome!!!

[@RegencyYarl]

I wonder why the VHS just sounds, i don't know, more real? Crunchy, i just really adore how nice it sounds.

[@MusicFanatical1]

Maybe it's imperfect like real memories.

[@----.__]

My father was always in to cam-corders since the 70's. I recall his first one which had a shoulder slung pack which housed the battery and a full sized vhs tape, and this plugged in to a camera which was about twice the size of the VHS shown here and it was _just_ the camera! He took it everywhere, it was like being followed by a film production crew. He bought a new camera every few years and we were all subjected to afternoons sitting around as a family watching back old tapes he'd made. Good times indeed, the nostalgia the VHS format induces is palpable. I miss those days with all my heart. I work in tech as an electrical/electronics/software engineer for the MoD and DoD, and I love where technology has gotten to, but I also think we've over complicated the world and by virtue we've lost a lot of the warmth and charisma that came with pre-social media and pre-smart phone days. They were simpler times, and things weren't as easy, but they were certainly more wholesome.

[@erniesdeck7550]

What a great great video The combination of PS5, squirrels and random girthy objects through a nostalgic lens is absolutely heartwarming. Thanks for sharing

[@Andy-pu2iv]

Time traveller jumps 20 years into the future and brings back disappointing evidence for hoverboard and matter transporter futurists.... Loved this video, Clint.

[@GreatNorthernJuna]

Era-appropriate Cypress Hill was an awesome coincidence. Thanks for another great video Clint!

[@boowiebear]

The smooth jazz during the in-screen demo reel was perfect! 😂❤

[@ergosteur]

This is such a cool video, the retrospective, and the footage that looks like it’s from 20 years ago. Takes me back to a time when it really was about capturing the moment on video, how magical that was. Our family had a full-size Sharp VHS camcorder in the ‘90s, lugged that thing around until about 2004 when we got a Panasonic MiniDV. The hand-sized camcorder with decent battery life was a game changer, could get out and about and not feel restricted recording all the various activities.

[@JoePolvino]

I remember going to EPCOT in 1983 and a father was videotaping his vacation. He had a full-on shoulder mount camera, a recorder in a heavy bag slung over one shoulder, and a belt with battery packs. I remember being impressed, envious, and also in awe of his dedication to carry around all that in 90 degree heat.

[@adamkamieniarz9223]

I have to say that your choice of scenery looks rather era appropriate. :D Until you start playing PS5 I couldnt say for sure if you filmed it in 2001 or 2021.

[@stuffmadethen]

I had these batteries in a JVC Boombox remote, and they just would not die, and also not leak. I wish we still could buy such high grade batteries. Nowadays they start leaking even BEFORE the expiration date :(

[@forestine_]

[lightly amused chuckle] really appreciate your great captions. so often they are an afterthought for people, or autogenerated and impossible to read.

[@enigmastudiosgaming]

Once again, carried back to my teenage years, selling these at Ultimate Electronics! From just a stupid logistics point of view, these boxes always stacked so neatly, and whenever one got returned I, of course, HAD to test it to see if it still worked. For total work purposes.

[@umbrellacorp.]

Yup there's nothing like LGR on a rainy day. ☕😌👍🌧

[@tinto278]

I bought an VHS-C Camcorder in the ship's store on board the USS George Washington in 2004. I used it to take photos on deployment and mail them home the same day. It was revolutionary at the time and my wife certainly appreciated it. #blessed

[@Metalgearmadness]

I have so many vintage cameras and camcorders. I have 3 1987 (ish) VHS cameras and one of them was new in case, another has the rare dual video head on it. I also got a 90s digital camera that takes floppy discs - they are some much fun to use. Its so fun when you film things fitting of the era but its also interesting to think that - these cameras are seeing the future - recording things well past possibly whatever their creators thought was possible.

[@spyczech]

Rural NC filmed in VHS camera is honestly a time capsule, I grew up and lived here my whole life if look at old cars especially its uncanny :D

[@64jimboy]

Hahaha, loved this video, the pizza was the icing on the cake! Those visuals are so particular of the VHS time. Thanks mate.

[@Ropetupa]

I just complained to my friend how I cant find inspiration. And then THIS masterpiece drops. Thank you mr Basinger!

[@Carstuff111]

So, I need to say this: Thank you for keeping my childhood/teenage years alive on this channel. That said, I didn't get into any of the tech stuff as a kid/teen, other than 8 bit and 16 bit consoles, stereos and a distant interest in computers. I literally did not have my first computer till 2003 when I turned 20. To that point, I gamed on, did work on, and worked on, computers but they were never mine or even in my own home. You have helped me live the parts of the PC world I missed out on, both games and hardware. And I do thank you for that, your channel has been great from day one man. And this kind of stuff is just bonus. :)

[@PooleyX]

It's pretty staggering how far we've come in just 20 years.

[@themadmallard]

When this camcorder was released, 20 years earlier Black and White tvs were still common.

[@growingup15]

@@themadmallard that's crazy to think about. the late 20th century and early 21st technology really did just accelerate quickly. It's weird when I was a kid in the 90s 240i TV was the norm by the time I was a teenager we just got our first 1080i HD Video. and look where we are now. 4K and higher Resolution crazy tech that if we shown ourselves as kids 20+ years ago we would have thought we were living in a sci-fi universe.

[@yerabbit]

I remember the first time I saw one of those opening side-door screens on a camcorder. I remember thinking it was the most futuristic thing Id' ever seen lol

[@emmarossignol4445]

I'm always going to have a soft spot for technology from the year I was born. Somewhat of a stepping stone year, things start to look more digital but still using old school techniques at times and haven't quite hit late 2000's quality. 20 years since I was born, slightly more than half of that time I have been watching LGR, and getting a better idea of what the world was like to experience when I was born. Truly grateful for the ability to have a look back like this.

[@AngryBassist66623]

34.20 You look like the virtual tour guide we had on Hawaii airlines 20 years ago. Except a cheap lcd in the back of the headrest. Perfect.

[@everyyxy8425]

i love all the footage on the camcorder!! for some reason, simply being recorded on vhs makes everything look old and i love that! very nice video! thank you for reviewing this clint

[@malicious217]

I don't know how closed captioning got turned on but ..... "Tree-rat related chuckle" is probably the best thing I've read in awhile!

[@davidt3563]

TIL what JVC stood for. And omg you were a baby in that older clip! 😂

[@martinb5626]

i love your videos. im 38 so its all nostalgia rides for me. 14+ years of LGR. never stop.

[@vis4083]

Watching that screen load , with THAT music, complete relaxation. soothing.

[@ArticTiger]

There is something so aesthetic about VHS camcorder footage. the artifacting and distorting, the subtle noise and the bad focus. It's nostalgic.

[@MichaelE6300]

what a nostalgic overload this episode is! brought me back in time, my dad always recorded every family event on vhs, has a ton of vhs tapes still to this day. if you like clint being back lgr foods with a vhs recorded episode. that would be awesome!

[@robertjones3223]

I know the nostalgic feeling with new you camcorder, In the last couple of years I spent many hours converting the family's old Hi8 tapes to digital. But I had ordered a new to me camcorder as ours were broken, and it came with some blank tapes that me son (11 year old) had fun messing about recording nonsense for no good reason.

[@SageMinimalist]

I subscript for exactly this type of content, the one that creator is genuinely passionate about, thank you

[@dan3a]

Not even going to comment on the camera, but that HR-S8000U is dropdead gorgeous!

[@gregorycosta1043]

I had a very similar JVC that I got in 2001 to replace my dad's aging shoulder-mounted Sharp from 1992. Sadly, the quality didn't come close to that of the Sharp. Mind you, the Sharp camcorder was about $2000 when he bought it, but it was amazing in low light, and the external microphone captured sound beautifully. The JVC sound always seemed muffled to me, and the colors were nowhere near as vibrant. And, yes, the Sharp was heavy, but when you have it propped against your shoulder it's surprisingly comfortable, and you don't have to worry about image stabilization.

[@dragonicankh]

Wow, seeing my camera i still have and use from time from time being found new and unboxed today. Maaan this takes me back. When you still record fun things like this on old equipment you just have more fun with it then you do in most modern equipment.

[@ChimpPeensRevunge]

I had a vaguely similar looking JVC camcorder growing up that my brother and I would film all of our "movies" on in like 2003-2006. You know, lightsaber fights on the trampoline, dressing in old Halloween costumes, typical tomfoolery. We were too young to really use video editing software, so we would do the "real time editing" technique of rewinding and re-recording over bits that we didn't want in the finished movie. I'm not sure which exact camcorder model we had, but I seem to remember the look-through viewfinder didn't have a fold-out feature; it was just a rectangle of rubber that was directly on the back of the camcorder. Good times. :) Thanks for the nostalgia trip as always!

[@Dannykm]

That downvote at 1:21, nice. I really hope you take that feedback seriously though lol

[@vworpnz]

That demo music matches the LGR aesthetic quite nicely.

[@FoxerTails]

Definitely nostalgic. It wasn't a JVC, but my dad had a Sony variant of this kind of camcorder at the time. So many VHS-C tapes of memories. Been meaning to back them up digitally.

[@gundalfthelost1624]

There's something very special about "new old" when it comes to tech. I recently bought a brand new, unopened in box Sony PVM-14M2U ("14 CRT TV from 1997) for the equivalent of $180 and a Playstation 1 (also unopened and brand new) for $120 with a bunch of games. The smell and the feel of brand new tech I remember so well from my teens is a very nice feeling. It's gonna be a perfect addition to my 1990 Toyota HiAce HolidayAce Camper/RV. Would love one of those old camcorders for recording my adventures.

[@CFM7]

that zoom is actually really impressive imo

[@BadAnimeGroup]

Clint slowly downvoting his own old video is a hilarious sight gag.

[@filmskoolfulci9183]

Been watching you for years and this video really hit me emotionally with the nostalgia for the same things I appreciate when it comes to older camcorders. Love it and love you dude. Your content is soul food.

[@Mat_1000]

You're crazy! Going in back alleys! You could have encountered kids of the block trying to steal you ! They would have been like : New kids on the block: "Hey! Give us your.... your... 🤔Give us your device old maaaan!!!" 😆 PS: I'm 41 now, and I'm nostalgic of the VHS era too ! The VHS camcorders, the VHS quality, the VCRs (the noise when you insert or eject a tape), even the VHS renting on saturday night. Thanks for the throwback, it felt good !! (And it was weird to see a flatscreen TV and a PS5 controller on VHS, a little bit anachronistic, it has some time travel vibes :D ).

[@dreadpiratesidebeard9471]

Brings back memories of those absolutely giant VHS units. I had to lug one of those beasts around on rental through Disney World. At least this is a sane size.

[@ragalthor]

Time to start the day with old tech.

[@nathanstevens87]

Awesome! My mom got me the exact camcorder for Christmas when I was in high school. Blast from the past!

[@evan.brow.n]

Had one very similar to this that we bought at a Sam’s Club back in 2007. Was told as long as we had the receipt there was a lifetime no questions asked return warranty. Flash forward to about 2019-early 2020, we had cancelled our membership since our store had closed, we find a box in the basement with, what do you know, the camcorder in box with all of its accessories AND the receipt. We decided to wait a couple weeks until the closest Sam’s had a “no membership required” day. We take it back to the service counter and the clerk looks at it, looks at the receipt, looks at it, looks at the receipt, and says “when did you purchase this?” we tell her “oh about 12 years or so ago. She gives us a bit of a confused look and says “well it’s got the warranty, do you want in store credit or back on the card?” And just like that we had $329 of in store credit and got a whole cart worth of groceries for free.

[@ChartreuseKitsune]

Some of the scenes look super sharp and honestly quite usable. Like the indoor scene of your Compaq AIO. I think the improvement in capture techonology really makes a difference compared to the early LGR days. I think you'd get some really usable videos swapping out the VHS-C there, much like when vwestlife makes videos occasionally on Hi-8 and such. Really the only things let down are when there's some high contrast areas with high details, like the brickwork in the buildings, or the closeups of leaves. The extra luminence bandwidth of SVHS would likely help a bit there.

[@fuzzix]

Great stuff - those batteries still working was the most amazing thing, though :)

[@jasonbass2973]

My grandfather bought one of these back in the early 2000's. He recently passed, and I snatched the camcorder and it still works! It had a tape in it, so I rewinded it to watch it. Last date on the tape was 2006! So glad I have in my collection today!

[@SeraphimKnight]

VHS in 2004 feels stupendously past it's prime though. DVD players had been cheap enough that I'd already had one in my room for a number of years by then. I haven't really watched any "amateur" VHS footage in the last 20 years and so it really took me back to my youth. My grandparents would drive around Canada and the US in the 80s and 90s and my grandpa would film basically anything of note and we'd be sat around his TV while he showed us what he saw on his trips. The shaky footage and half-incoherent mumbling describing what was going on. He was also a really early home computer adopter for my neck of the woods and he was the one that showed me the game Castle Wolfenstein 3D, really blew my mind. RIP

[@DOSStorm]

You should film an entire old school LGR episode with this camera.

[@deliciouspickledherring]

that VHS pizza inspired instant hunger

[@SpiffingNZ]

There's something very wholesome about the fact that your career started with a VHS camcorder you got for 10 bucks from Goodwill.

[@danielnewton2390]

I was going up to North Carolina for work last week and was directed through Hendersonville to avoid the construction traffic around Asheville. I have always loved the towns in Western NC, and Hendersonville was no exception. It’s cool to see that area captured in such a unique way.

[@fixxxer3456]

Crazy how VHS was still a thing well into 2003

[@rcmero]

VHS was still a thing until at least 2005, believe it or not.

[@Carstuff111]

I have a friend with about 850+ VHS movies that he and his family still enjoy now in 2023. He got lucky a few years back and stumbled onto a Sony professional VHS recorder at a Flea Market for $25.00. Took it home, cleaned it up, thing works perfectly still. That was a $1,000.00+ machine still in 2003 ish meant for dubbing and other tasks. It is mind blowing how some old tech still defies time.

[@WinterInTheForest]

While DVD had by then dominated VHS for watching movies, affordable digital cameras weren't really very good until the 2010s.

[@MrNexor-cj8gs]

Not really. DVD players were still kind of expensive and digital video cameras were extremely expensive. I remember seeing VHS tapes for sale until 2008/9.

[@LonelySpaceDetective]

DVD (or MiniDVD in most cases) camcorders and their media while very much usable had quite a lot to quirks to them that would make them undesirable to likely plenty of people, and alternative tape options like DV or Video8 didn't really have any common options for showing it on a person's television beyond physically taking your camcorder over there; I'm sure standalone DV and Video8 players/VCRs were a thing but how many people would've bought them compared to their VHS counterparts or DVD players? VHS still legitimately made quite a bit of sense for use as a camcorder format at this time, is the point I'm trying to make.

[@venstoma]

What is that font... What IS that font?! How did you do that?

[@grenmoyo3968]

Can't tell you the nostalgia this gives having used the VHS-C for school projects in highschool in the early mid 2000s. It brings back so many memories.

[@kellymurray8998]

Our family had one of these as a kid, I was fascinated with it! My dad says I was always asking to use it when we went on holiday, the tech was so intriguing to me.

[@trisymphony]

where has the time gone…

[@gravis778]

So the feature I was most excited about on this camera was the one you didn't cover - SVHS ET. I used that mode almost exclusively when I got an SVHS ET VCR back in the day (problem is when the tape started to degrade in a couple of years, that signal was like the first thing to go, so in a couple of years the tape was unwatchable). Could you do a Blurb or something with you recording content in SVHS ET? I think it would be fascinating to see

[@sheik124]

Agreed, I was really hoping to see S-VHS ET footage from an S-VHS-C camcorder. He's got an S-VHS deck so playback wouldn't have been an issue, and it looks like he captured straight out of the camcorder anyways, surely it'd play back its own recording at least the first time. FWIW I still have full size S-VHS ET recordings from a late 90s JVC deck that play back just fine...

[@gravis778]

@@sheik124 I think my issue is by the time I got an ET deck, VHS was already starting to die, and I don't think the tape quality of the tapes I was buying was that good

[@theblubus]

Loving the "Quiet Storm" smooth jazz Clint :) Very period accurate for this camcorder

[@guardyangel]

Watching this video made me feel i was transported 20 years back in time! Thank you.