Video : Look Ma, No Hands : Miniature JVC Camcorder Can Just Be Clipped To Clothes
There’s not much that camcorders don’t do anymore. Computer brains with genius IQs inside the video camera take care of just about everything-they white balance the camera, set the exposure, keep the frame in focus, adjust the audio level and signal when the batteries are running out. About the only thing left for the camera operator to do is aim and shoot.
Seems the designers at JVC have taken care of that minor inconvenience. JVC’s Super Compact Full System 007-yes, as in James Bond “007”-is a radical new concept in home video cameras. Picture this: You’re swooshing down the slopes at Mammoth Mountain, poles in hand, capturing your impressive snowplow technique via a miniature video camera perched on your shoulder. The camera is connected to a Walkman-sized videotape deck slipped inside your coat pocket.
You say you’re not an outdoors person? Fine, clip the featherlight video camera onto your hat at a party so you won’t forget people’s names when you see them again.
There’s no reason “America’s Funniest Home Videos” fans can’t fasten the tiny camera onto the collar of the dog or the walker of a toddler. Just about anything that drives, flies or slides will do.
The versatile SC-F007 accomplishes its tasks through a miniaturized set of modular video components-a Super VHS-C Hi-Fi videocassette recorder that measures about two inches square and one inch high, a three-inch liquid-crystal-display color TV screen, built-in speakers and a color camera with microphone.
Like a high-priced Transformer toy, the modular components of the SC-F007 can be arranged into a number of configurations. Connected by cables, they become a flexible, hands-free video camera. Fitted together, they form a miniature camcorder. With headphones, the tape deck becomes a personal headphone stereo or a field viewing unit. Indoors, the system can be connected to a home audio/video system to deliver the type of S-VHS pictures and hi-fi stereo sound available from a full-size VCR.
JVC’s SC-F007 offers a future glimpse of the direction the burgeoning camcorder market is heading. In many ways, camcorders have replaced Instamatic cameras as the standard issue at weddings, graduations and birthday parties. JVC was the company that first introduced the VHS format a decade ago, and since then, about 260 million decks and camcorders have been sold. One family in 10 owns a camcorder today, compared to one in 30 only three years ago.
Camcorders come in three formats, full-sized VHS and two compacts-VHS-C (a compact version of VHS) and 8mm. The full-sized VHS camcorder-which weighs between 6-8 pounds and uses a regular-sized VHS cassette-claims well over half the market. Among the compacts, 8mm is the most popular, with an estimated 30% of the market. VHS-C trails but is picking up steam with about a 10% share.
The June introduction of the SC-F007 is an aggressive move by JVC to force 8mm out of the compact videocassette market, in the same way that JVC’s VHS format became the popular choice over Sony’s superior Betamax format years ago. The reason JVC won out was because of better promotion, not performance.
Once again, the Sony-backed 8mm technology is generally regarded more favorably than VHS-C by videophiles, but 8mm tapes cannot be played on standard VHS machines. VHS-C tapes, on the other hand, can be placed in adapters that make them compatible with regular VHS.
The suggested retail price of JVC’s SC-F007 is $2,499. The package includes an A/V junction box, all necessary cables, battery, AC adapter and charger, TV sun shade, optical camera viewfinder and a fitted carrying case.
Tech talk
Q: In camcorder terminology, what does lux mean? A: It’s a measurement of the machine’s capacity for producing a quality picture in dim light. The lower the lux number, the better the camcorder is supposed to record in poor light. For the consumer, using a low-lux camcorder presumably means you can record in low light without using additional lights. When a camcorder can produce good pictures at a light level of seven lux-equal to the light in a dimly lit room-that’s admirable. Manufacturers like to boast that their camcorders work well in very low light, some claiming good peformance at a light level as low as three lux. But that’s mostly hype. Most camcorders don’t produce high-quality pictures at a seven lux level.
