GR-C1 camcorder. This Japanese-labelled model features the "Victor" brand (as used in the company's home market), rather than the "JVC" name used outside Japan.Front view of the Victor GR-C1 camcorder
The JVC GR-C1 VideoMovie was a camcorder released in March 1984 by JVC. It was notable as the second consumer-grade all-in-one camcorder after 1983 Sony Betamovie, as opposed to earlier portable systems in which the camera and recorder were separate units linked by a cable (portapaks), and as the first VHS-C camcorder.
The camera section was built around a 1/2" Saticon pickup tube,[1] while the recorder used a 20-minute VHS-C video cassette, which could be played back in a standard VHSVCR using an adapter. The camera was also capable of playback in the viewfinder or through a composite video cable. A separate RF modulator was available to enable connection to the aerial socket of domestic televisions.
It was also released under license and in a black finish by German company Telefunken as the 890 Movie and in a dark red by German company SABA as the VM 6700.[2]
The GR-C1 was voted one of the top 100 gadgets of all time.[3]
Unlike the GR-C1, the Sony Betamovie could record but not play back. In 1985 Sony released three CCD-based 8-mm camcorders and stopped using Beta cassettes for consumer-grade camcorders.
It also featured in Stranger Things season 2 (set in 1984), as the camcorder Bob Newby hands over to Jonathan Byers to use when he takes Will and the other kids trick-or-treating and is used to record the Mind Flayer.[5]
^"Total Rewind". www.totalrewind.org. Retrieved 2015-07-16. Immortalised in Back To The Future [..] The GR-C1 was still a tube-based camera, and the incredible sensitivity of today's CCD camcorders [..] was still a distant dream.
