Remember the 80's when everyone was walking around with one of those big camcorders on their shoulders? We thought they were the greatest invention since sliced bread. But most of us had no idea how they evolved. It was quite a journey and, as we all no, sure didn't stop there.
The original field of the video camera was in television broadcasting. The were two separate, very large pieces of equipment used in to different locations. The cameras were mounted on special trolleys and wired to the recorders. As with everything, as technology progressed, before long they were able to make units in a much smaller size. A portable unit was made up of two pieces, the video camera and the VCR, both being mobile. The VCR was made up of a cassette player/recorder and a television tuner or receiver. Because the units could be detached from one another usually meant filming was always a team effort. The camera cases for this equipment is as large and cumbersome as the equipment itself. Going on location means crating the camera equipment and shipping it to its destination.
Filming remained the job of two until the introduction of the first professional camcorder by Sony, in 1982. It's name was Betacam. Sony's slogan for the Betacam was "Inside This Camera Is A VCR". But it was going to take more than a slick slogan to sell the cameramen. They were used to having a video engineer handling the VCR equipment and now that was going to be their responsibility. However, once the cable between the two (cameraman and video engineer) was removed, the cameraman realized unlimited freedom and it has remained the film industry's filming standard ever since. This type of filming has also come a long way. There is a new concept of portable television studios that is becoming popular among those who film on site such things as aerial shows. The equipment needed can be packed in a set of quality camera cases with dividers that provide storage for carrying extra lenses and other accessories.
From the professional Betacam came the first camcorder available to the general public in 1983, and they called it Betamax. It was too large to operate by one hand, thus the shoulder method of shooting became popular with the average citizen making films of their grandchildren. Most units are designed for the right-handed person. And, because they had only optical viewfinders, with no playback or rewind capabilities, some camcorders got larger before they started to get smaller. The cases for these earlier camcorders were generally a hard suitcase type case with a cut out space inside for the camera and each attachment. Camera cases now have many features for ease in carrying and use including the ability to load your equipment into the case two ways.
The early 80's brought us two new formats, VHS-C (VHS with a smaller sized cassette) and the 8mm, in the form of the KodaVision 2000 in 1984 from Kodak. The rest is history. The first conventional viewfinder became an option through Sharp in 1992 when they introduced their color LCD screen. This feature is on almost all camcorders today and has revolutionized the ease of domestic filming. Basically, turn it on and point it at what you want to make a memory of; that's all there is to it. The most recent big breakthrough in camcorders was the arrival of the digital, which took place in 1995. Panasonic and Sony were the leaders with their Digital Video camcorders, but Sharp and Jvc wasted no time getting their products on the market. The camcorder has continued to shrink in size and are now small enough to hold in the palm of your hand. Cases area appropriate to the size; no longer hard, heavy, cumbersome suitcases. They're lightweight and come in attractive fabric and colors.
