The last VHS camcorder
Brands don’t usually advertise the end of a product line. We know the year and the month when the the last VHS VCR was made because the format was a global phenomenon and lasted for 40 years until big-screen TVs and digital streaming have finally made it obsolete.
Camcorders, on the other hand, have always been more of a niche product, and because the original recording is supposed to be edited, and then distributed, possibly on a different media, camcorder formats have shorter life span.
So, which VHS camcorder was the last one, and who made it? JVC, the inventor of VHS, and Panasonic, its partner in crime, are the two main suspects.
I chose this VHS-C thing because I think all playback equipment for formats other than this and DVD will be difficult to find in 50 years. — Amazon customer.
The last two Panasonic models seem to be the PV-L354 and PV-L454, released in 2004 and available in the early 2005 from some major resellers like Adorama and even in 2006 on Amazon.
JVC advertised two VHS camcorders in 2005: GR-SXM37 (Super VHS-C), and GR-AXM17 (VHS-C). In 2006, JVC still had VHS camcorders in its lineup: GR-SXM38 (Super VHS-C) and GR-AXM18 (VHS-C); the only difference compared to 2005 models was the decorative collar: silver for 2005 and blue for 2006. The AXM were VHS only, while the SXM had Super VHS capability.
In 2007 JVC launched an HD camcorder that recorded onto built-in HDD, finally dropping the ancient VHS format for good.
I wasn’t sure about owning a digital camcorder. I was afraid that I would need a DVD burner to make DVDs and did not want to store all the videos on my hard drive, because I could lose them any time — you never know when a virus may strike. — Amazon customer
So, 2006 appears to be the last year when a new VHS camcorder was manufactured and sold. If you have other information, feel free to correct me.
After a quick search on eBay, it was either an SXM38 in rough condition with a non-working flip-out screen and a broken off viewfinder for $21 with free shipping, or an SXM37 in great cosmetic condition, which functioned normally before it was put in storage eons ago, for $22 including shipping.
Compared to the steam engine design of the 2001 model that I reviewed earlier, the GR-SXM37 is a rather handsome, albeit a nondescript machine. JVC could incorporate Hi-Fi audio, progressive-scan recording, true widescreen, maybe even add a high-speed USB or Firewire port with built-in analog-to-digital converter, ending the format with a triumphant bang.
Instead, it is a rather pedestrian machine, which is capable of Super VHS recording, and which has built-in time base corrector for stabilizing the picture during playback, but other than that, it records single-channel linear audio, has no input for an external microphone, no headphone output, no shoe, no elaborate manual controls.
Compared to the 1993 Panasonic AG3, which has tons of buttons and no menu, this one is a complete opposite: it has four submenus and as few buttons as possible, most buttons doing double duty depending on whether the camcorder is in record or play mode.
It is just a cheap camcorder, that is what it is. Its original retail price was $229, the AXM variant, which could not record Super VHS, was priced at $199.
JVC incorporated bits and pieces from its digital camcorders, like the ⅙ — inch CCD with 320 thousand pixels and the tiny viewfinder. Even these components are the cheapest ones, like the viewfinder is black-and-white, the flip-out LCD is a puny 2.5-inch, and the zoom toggle is of the notoriously unreliable kind.
On the top there are buttons to control the tape deck: Fast Forward and Rewind, Play/Pause, Stop/Eject. To eject the tape you need to open the flip-out monitor first, then press and hold the Eject button.
The camcorder uses small VHS cassettes known as VHS-C. The hub on the supply reel is the same size as on a full-size VHS cassette, while the takeup reel has a geared wheel. This setup allowed JVC to create a caddy for playing these compact VHS cassettes in a full-size VHS machine. Looking at the adapter from the back with the metal plate removed, you can see the supply reel on the VHS-C cassette, and the takeup reel on the adapter, which drives the takeup gear on the VHS-C cassette through an idler gear.
On the one hand, this is very smart. On the other hand, did it really make any difference? If you wanted to watch the movie you recorded yourself, you could play it directly off the camcorder. If you mailed the small cassette to your relative of friend, you would be left without the original. I think most people who wanted to share their videos would just dub them onto a full-size cassette, probably trimming half an hour of raw footage down to a 5-minute video. The success of 8-mm video format proved that compatibility with full-size VHS did not matter.
Commonly, you can record up to 20 or 30 minutes on one cassette in SP mode; the recording time can be tripled by switching to EP mode, but the quality of the video and especially of the audio suffered. Cassettes can have standard VHS or Super VHS tape. For the first ten years after Super VHS format was created, you needed SVHS tape to record in SVHS mode. In 1998 JVC introduced SVHS-ET mode, that allowed recording SVHS onto regular VHS tape. This camcorder is capable of recording in this mode, but to squeeze the last drop of quality from the aging format, you should use true SVHS tape.
Most of the camcorder functions are available from the menu, which is invoked by pressing on the control wheel. Luckily, manual focus can be engaged with a dedicated button. The same button turns built-in time base corrector (TBC) on or off during playback.
The exposure settings are simplistic, there is no way to choose specific shutter speed and aperture, you cannot even lock the overall exposure. You can turn gain on or off, adjust exposure compensation, and choose from several shooting modes, like sports, which uses shutter speed between 1/250 and 1/500, high shutter speed of 1/2000, and Twilight, which can slow the shutter speed all the way to 1/60. You can also select from several white balance presets or set manual white balance.
Comparing the video quality of the SXM37 to the SXM240 the difference is apparent — the SXM37 produces softer picture than the camcorder manufactured five years earlier.
The last VHS camcorder is hardly the best. With a tiny sensor it is no good in low light, and the added sensor resolution does not result in a more detailed picture in good light.
It can be used to shoot videos that have the unmistakable 1990s look thanks to the CCD sensor. It can also be useful as a playback deck for digitizing old videos thanks to Super VHS capability and a built-in time base corrector.
Remember that audio is recorded and output as a single channel, and that in EP mode the tape speed is just a quarter of audio cassette speed, so the sound quality in this mode is abysmal. ⬛
