Using a 𝐍𝐄𝐖 VHS-C Camcorder! JVC SXM250 from 2003

Unboxing a new old stock Super VHS video camera! This JVC GR-SXM250u is pretty similar to the original camera that I used to record LGR back in the day, and it was a real treat to experience one that was unused. So let's get this electronic treat opened up and tested out, and record some video tapes decades later!

● LGR links:

● JVC marketing video comparing S-VHS to VHS:

00:00 JVC GR-SXM250U
01:01 The Original LGR Camera
02:30 Super VHS tapes
03:45 Early 2000s camcorder options
04:59 Unboxing the SXM250
11:33 Power on, retail demo
14:29 Testing a VHS-C tape
16:15 On-camera features, menus
19:51 Out and about recording things!
29:48 Playback on a CRT TV
33:52 Live feed, summing things up

● All background music licensed from:

#LGR #camera #unboxing #retro #video

[brunosardine]

I cannot explain how much of a mindfreak it is to see this VHS footage. Like conceptually I understand that it was filmed in 2023, but without the context of the video I would be 100% convinced it was from the turn of the century

[raduorza]

There's something special about filming modern stuff using an old vhs camcorder. It's like a visitor from the past came in the future and tried documenting it.

[CodyShell]

no better way to welcome a cold rainy/snowy November morning with a crisp LGR unboxing

[RegularCupOfJoe]

Yes, the digital zoom was so bogus. I remember my family got a camcorder with 700x digital zoom... have you ever seen the space between pixels?

[davidt]

Man the video quality made me incredibly nostalgic for the late 90s early 2000s. Getting my license, 87 cent gas, video taping my friends playing UT, Quake 2, martial arts etc. It's hard to believe that it was 23 years ago.

[lameashecc]

I donno if its just because of the conditioning we went through in the 90's; but going through old camcorder footage feels oddly personal and intimate. It feels super slice of life-y

[vwestlife]

With vintage video and photography equipment, you're not capturing a perfect replication of real life; you're creating art. The imperfections add texture and leave more to the imagination.

[hammondeggsmusic]

Something I noticed with both this camera and old footage I have from my old video cameras: We take “clips” now with our phones, but with a camcorder it felt like you immediately fell back in to how videos were taken in the past - lots of random footage with talking (ooo squirrel, pumpkin etc), and so much *longer* shots. Having all of that storage really helped capture so much!

[lexpinkmoon]

i love clint going into his history with a similar camcorder because it really goes to show that you don't need to shell out so much money on-top-of-the-line tools to start creating something worthwhile, or even to start a creative career; what you use always comes second to how you use it. don't let not being able to afford the latest and greatest stop you from doing something you love

[bf]

That 80s smooth jazz track you played during the retail demo is unironically amazing and very authentic sounding despite it being royalty free music. Sounds kinda like Grover Washington and John Klemmer like my Dad used to listen when I was a kid.

You have fantastic ears. I can tell you put in effort into finding the right music

[Benrob]

I feel like you could use VHS footage as era-appropriate B-roll every now and again.

[Ralph-yngr]

Ah man, I forgot how... cozy VHS looks. I never had a camcorder, but it's still nice to be reminded of those first generation YouTube videos.

I think it would be kinda neat if you made the occasional video with it. Sort of a throwback kind of thing.

[Darxide]

As a massive fan of things like analog horror, I have to say that you just futzing around with this camera around town already looks a thousand times better than the junk analog filters everyone runs their video through during editing. More amateur creators need to invest in a new-old stock camcorder like this. They were so common and popular that there has to be a deep supply of such things still out there for cheap-ish.

[DarthCrust]

There’s something very nostalgic about that raw camcorder footage like watching old family videos

[-ZodiacPrince-]

It's honestly enough to trick me and send me back all the way back to the 90s... You just can't replicate the authentic 90s video experience with modern technology.

[J.Wick.]

Hard to beat that era of JVC. Miss them in the US market these days. They were always my go to for bang for buck.

[MrDeelightful]

This was a fun little throwback to the early days of your channel. It's sure cool how The Blair Witch Project defined that creepy nighttime forest VHS aesthetic. I think most of us went right there mentally when you were shooting at night in your backyard. Great video as always, I love to watch you having fun with the topic!

[TAGMedia]

Thank you for properly deinterlacing your footage and rendering at 60p. Too many people miss this crucial step for preserving camcorder fluidity.

[chubbycatfish]

There's something about that less sharp VHS aesthetic that really looks good.

[----.__]

My father was always in to cam-corders since the 70's. I recall his first one which had a shoulder slung pack which housed the battery and a full sized vhs tape, and this plugged in to a camera which was about twice the size of the VHS shown here and it was _just_ the camera! He took it everywhere, it was like being followed by a film production crew. He bought a new camera every few years and we were all subjected to afternoons sitting around as a family watching back old tapes he'd made. Good times indeed, the nostalgia the VHS format induces is palpable. I miss those days with all my heart. I work in tech as an engineer for the MoD and DoD, and I love where technology has gotten to, but I also think we've over complicated the world and by virtue we've lost a lot of the warmth and charisma that came with pre-social media and pre-smart phone days. They were simpler times, and things weren't as easy, but they were certainly more wholesome.