NEW WEAPONS INTRODUCED IN THE CAMCORDER WAR
Don’t sell them short.
They may be small and getting smaller all the time, they may have gotten a lot less coverage than Super-VHS, CD-Video and the other big cheeses at this summer’s Consumer Electronics Show, and their new models didn’t feature any revolutionary advances . . . but camcorders are still going to play a very big role in the video picture this year and next.
The camcorder (short for camera-recorder) market is booming--sales doubling this year over last--and the boom could reach VCR-style proportions if prices ever come down the way they did with videocassette recorders.
At the big semiannual electronics show held in Chicago a couple of weeks ago, Sony and JVC and their various licensees carried on their camcorder format war (Sony’s 8mm vs. JVC’s VHS-Compact)--and introduced some new weapons. None of the new ready-to-sell-soon models and just-over-the-horizon prototypes featured any earth-shaking alterations, but the ever-continuing refinement of the camera-recorder was impressively in evidence.
As usual, Sony and JVC themselves led the way. Even more concerned with weight reduction than the people who buy Jane Fonda’s videos, Sony claimed that its newest Handycam, the CCD-M7U, trimmed 30% off the previous model. Tipping the scales at two pounds, two ounces ( including battery and cassette), the little wonder is the lightest camcorder around.
At the JVC booth, two VHS-C models shared the spotlight. The GR-C11U, already for sale in Japan, featured full auto-focus (an improvement over the currently available GR-C9U’s range focus) and a manual 3:1 zoom. The GR-C25U--in prototype form only--had 6:1 zoom, a macro (extreme close-up) function, date recording, 330-line resolution and a high-speed shutter (to 1/1,000th of a second). Weight was down to 2.4 pounds from the GR-C9U’s 2.9. Consumers probably won’t see it in the United States, though, until 1988.
Another impressive entry in the VHS-C category was Zenith’s VM6150 Sharpshooter, which at 2.2 pounds with battery and cassette is competitive with Sony’s newest Handycam in terms of lightness.
Most of the industry talk tends to favor VHS-C’s chances in the format war--largely for the same reasons that Sony’s new ED-Beta VCR system is not expected to be very competitive with the JVC-developed Super-VHS format: Because most people who own VCRs already have VHS models. The VHS-C camcorders enable the user to play these modern “home movies” directly on their home decks--without the one-generation-loss transferal that occurs when an 8mm camcorder and a VHS deck are used.
There was also talk that the prices for some of the new VHS-C and 8mm camcorders could fall into the $600-$700 actual price range (at discount stores) not long after they’re introduced.
Other models on display included the Magnavox VR9240 Moviemaker, with a 1/1,000th-second shutter and audio-video dubbing, and Panasonic’s PV-100 Omnimovie, a VHS-C camcorder with a special focusing system. Super-VHS cameras were also shown at the electronics show, but there was little hope that consumer models would be available before next year.
When camcorders really catch on with the public, the electronics and video industries will benefit in more ways than one. Many of the 50% of Americans who haven’t yet purchased VCRs (even though many models are less expensive than the average color TV) will be more interested when they realize that the modern “home movie” doesn’t involve a film camera, film processing and a noisy projector. Just a camcorder, a snap-in tape and a VCR. That may do a lot to change the prevailing image of video--from a passive to an (at least sometimes) active pastime.
