Betamovie Camcorders

Introduced in 1983, the Sony Betamovie was the world's first camcorder - a video cassette recorder and video camera combined. Before that, users had to carry the camera and recorder separately. An example is the SL-F1 camera/recorder combo.

Numerous technical advances made the Betamovie possible. The Betamovie has only a single video head - all other VHS and Beta VCRs have at least two. The single head is mounted on a cylinder half the normal diameter (making the unit smaller) and spins twice as fast. This head can only record; unlike modern camcorders it is not possible to play back recordings in the camera itself. To see what you've taped, you eject the cassette and put it into your home Betamax player.

The viewfinder is a simple 'through-the-lens' type, not electronic. It is the only way to monitor the recording - there is no 'Video Out' jack. Why not? Because the picture is transferred more or less straight from the pickup tube to the tape without being converted into composite video first. This means that less electronic circuitry is used, the camera becomes smaller and lighter and the picture quality of the recording is better too, since there is no unnecessary video processing. Better quality is the hallmark of Betamax.

The original PAL Betamovie (model BMC-100) was black and silver with a rainbow-coloured carrying strap. It was followed by the BMC-200, similar but gold and with the addition of digital auto-focus. The final model in the Betamovie range, BMC-500 is pictured below on the right. This one used a CCD sensor instead of a picture tube, making it very advanced for its day. It also included a Liquid Crystal Display tape counter and battery-backed clock. The time and date could be superimposed on the picture as it was being recorded. Like the previous two models, the BMC-500 has no playback facility.

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