Panasonic VCR Commercial 1983

[awsomeman649]

Just slightly behind our time.

[bshaun2]

solid gold dancers kicked ass

[tubelogicat]

Girl not included.

[BrooklynEagle]

"it´ougtha be great for porn recording too"

0:13--You should remind Jayne Kennedy & Leon Issac about that, so they can, uh..."relive fond memories." :D Hmmm, now that I think about it, the chick in this '83 spot kinda looks like the now-famous Miss Kennedy (not Jackie-O's lame-ass!). Jayne & Leon shot their now-classic "movie"--NOT "Body & Soul", which "came" out in '81--sometime around '83. And if you're a fan of the Kimmy K/Ray J flick, watch The Kennedy's "movie" to see where they got...

[maxwestcomics]

Wasn't the home electronics market in the 1980s cool?

[dracoame]

I have one of these dockable vcr's with the lead acid battery they shure did kill your shoulder in no time, aside from the battery the dang thing still works

[jrmetmoi]

She's a one woman Fame. Remembah-remembah-remembah FAAAAAAME!!

[80sOldSkool]

@jrmetmoi Yes, I'm gonna live forever, light up the sky like a flame, FLAME!!...dear oh dear..

[acedaface954]

@videofavorer youre joking right? lol. i love vhs to but as a standard in today's digital world...i dont see it happening. but ay thats me. lol

[VideoFavorer]

I would so carry that thing around. Why isn't VHS still a standard format? All we've got now is (overrated) Blu-Ray.

[mblahnikluver]

@VideoFavorer I agree! My fiancee teases me because I have a VCR and he loves Blu Ray. I get VHS tapes for 25 cents and I always have movies! It's great and the picture is just find, so it's not HD, I can still watch it!

[80sOldSkool]

@VideoFavorer Blu-Ray is hardly over-rated. Have you ever seen a blu-ray movie on a 1080 tv?

[SpartanForgeWorld300]

I wonder what that chick looks like now?

[BricktownBubba]

I wouldn't want to put a $2000 video system on a tripod on the beach next to crashing waves.

[level242]

I can't believe I saw this 5 years ago!

[GeneralFantastic]

it wasnt focusing... it was getting aroused

[neoarcadezr]

Panasonic a new light weight system.......xD

[abcd12345]

used to think this was so cool lol

[iskanderoelmann]

it´ougtha be great for porn recording too

[UltimateGingerBalls]

I'd hit that

[lennomenno]

I think we will have self destructed ourselves 10 years from now.

[gonigeena]

that is really good

[NoIDidunt10]

Wow ,doesn't she look so hot recording herself flashdancing on the beach.Wouldn't be caught dead lugging that monster around today

[cameron20101000]

if this camcorder is that big then i get it today!

[JBofBrisbane]

You should have seen the home video outfits they sold before these - they were HUUUUGE!

[Linkstman]

i acully want one....

[chalklounge]

"Put in a pre-recorded movie..."

As opposed to the movies that were recorded afterward?

[Bunsher]

@chalklounge george carlin! :D

[tdrewman]

When I was a kid, I said WOW !! Look how small that VCR is!!

[phoenixdita]

Panasonic VCR HD 1080p WOW, lol

[gasb911]

by it self

[MattTheSaiyan]

The tech is now outdated, but this style of commercial should make a comeback.

[Onneff69]

@MattTheSaiyan Yes - there is something less offensive about it, that's for sure. No screaming & shouting, for one thing.

[navveed]

i want one...

[Jeff98177]

I had a Panasonic camcorder and used it to videotape basketball games for a friend of mine who was a coach. One time the ball was headed out of bounds right toward me, I had to jerk out of the way with this behemoth on my shoulder and actually wrenched my shoulder. Good times. Now I have a camera that could fit inside the old one with room left over.

[AeroTheHedghog]

Just slightly.. not too much.. a little bit.. Ok its already outdated just buy it! 

[burtonanfie]

WOW!!! who can forget the 1983 panasonic lightweight camcorder,and who can also forget the 1983 birth of amatuer porn!!gotta love the 80's!!!

[777jones]

Only 36.5 kilograms...

[gherinquad]

This was before camcorders: combination CAMera reCORDERS.

[danrichards23]

i could not believe she had to carry the vcr on her shoulder. i know it was the early 80s but damn.

[rudychilds]

I shot the "Heavy Metal Picnic" with this system.

[vigo894]

@ChaosPunksXe= You know what, so do I.

[voltron821]

priced right at only $1795.00

[Zorsha]

"It connects almost by itself" lo!

[kakureru]

...but only slightly...

[hpkingf]

Rofl I guess people must of been strong in the 1980s and pretty soon I wanna see what happens to use and with hd cameras haha

[mrTovmac]

nice .... the lens looks very proffesional though

[uzernaam100]

Watch this commercial and you'll think if you buy this thing you'll get hot, leggy dancing chicks in your living room. The magic of advertising...

[SWO4LIFE]

man bullshit that thing was like 25lbs!!

[barfumer]

lightweight my ass lets compare, those things weigh like bricks, now we have ones that weigh only grams

[UnableToGiveADam]

after watching this all i can think about is the fast forward/rewind noises that always sounded as if the vcr was about to explode

[wakaratwakawaka]

So this thing plays but doesn't record it's own hi-fi audio?

What a gyp!

[vwestlife]

This ad has to be at least from 1985, not 1983, as Hi-Fi Stereo VHS wasn't introduced until then.

[jason24568]

It is not a today-likely camcorders! A lightweight camera and bringing a VCR.

[VhsHeaven]

What an obvious Flashdance rip-off that song was! I can't believe they got away with that. Crazy.

In retrospect, the size *was* ahead of it's time; it just had that VHS arm strap thingy, which seemed like a drag. I'd take this over the clunky Video 8 my dad had when we were growing up any day, though. It probably beat having to hold a 5 pound camera.

[patricknedz]

I love the pansonic omnivisons from the early 2000s, I bought one from 2003 its really nice

[Dtp83084]

i really did lol at this thats freakin amazing

[stads24]

You have to lug that VCR around with it?

That chick would need to record herself, because who else would want to see her?

[SlimeTron5000]

Yes. But you could hook them up to any visual output. Plus, the early video cameras (since the 1950s) contain a type of cathode ray tube - before solid state image sensors (like CCD). Yet, that technology is 'shit', because the photo-conductor layer in the tubes displayed annoying afterimages after extreme light stimulation. Parallels much how your eyes work.

[ECCRJ]

haha lightweight hahahaha

[4speedskoda]

It says it was stereo - was this linear stereo? That was not Hi-Fi though...

[mypalrocco]

This commercial was an aftershock of the movie Flashdance....gad!

[jaymorpheus01]

Hahha, it's really portable. The camera looked great, then you looked at that thing the lady propped up, I wonder if it weighed 5 or 10 lbs.

[Ambassador72]

Sooo, it works by itself...

Focuses by itself....

Stands out by itself...

... And now sits on a shelf at the Salvation Army, by itself. Fascinating.

[capnquirky]

ha ha ha ha ha !!!

[zomgthesoftness]

This is so 80s the only things missing are Wayfarer sunglasses, gaudy cars, and crack cocaine.

[Dreambro1]

The 80s Cars ROCKED,,,,unlike the plastomobiles they have out nowadays!

[mypalrocco]

What, are you fucking kidding me?

[Dreambro1]

why? was that too much? ok,, fifteen bucks! I saw 2 at goodwill today for 5 bucks apiece!

[817droopy]

dam i was born n 83 lol

[mig189189189]

Awesome video. Keep on with that good work!

[DSM1G90]

..and in 1983, that portable was well over $1300 with camera. Panasonic knew how to build VCR's and associated equipment back then in the VHS format ..that they created....

[Dreambro1]

I got one ill sell u for 30 bucks

[MRLOL785]

I want one of those, they're good for stuff you don't have to move around much such as a play or a concert, just plug it in and do your thing.

[POOPINGASUSUAL]

JUST SLIGHTLY AHEAD OF OUR TIME - at least they are modest! Lol!

[Smatchimo]

is panasonic still making VCR's? at the end of their life i saw that sony still had a vcr standalone and panasonic did too, everything else has DVD built in.

[TheNewFormula]

I don't know about Panasonic but Philips is still making VHS VCR's.

[TheNewFormula]

In 10 years, we will be looking back at the today hyper-modern HD camcorders, just as we look back at this thing, today.

[patrickjevans]

HD camcorders are already obsolete...

[fakechicken]

try 5 years

[SilentG20]

@TheNewFormula

wrong, actually you don't see things as advanced and high quality built as this thing nowadays, this thing advertised was in reach of the mainstream consumer at the time as well, if you want to record video professionally these days, you might need need 2 Tons equipment plus some couple of thousand of dollars. Yes, things go back sometimes for the sake of those technology corporations.

[kage1979]

@SilentG20 What are you talking about my phone records vids in much better quality and in HD than most of my slightly older cameras. This panasonic is a brontosaurus and low tech by the standards of the equipment in its day. Actualy reel to reel film gave much better quality than that. All this thing is or was is that it was available to anyone willing to pay $2000 back in the day.

[SilentG20]

@kage1979

does your so-called phone have optical zoom? does it record sound on two channels rather than one retarded mono channel?

[kage1979]

@SilentG20 LOL what year are you typing from 1989? are you using a packard bell? LOL yes my phone, Smart Phone can record in stereo if I hook it up to my flat panel via HDMI cable it comes out in 5.1 no 7.1 if I want it to, note the TV is not a boob tube. Seriously do you still use a bag phone, my cousin owned this stupid cam and it sucked even for the day, my phone's digi zoom is alot better than that beasts optical.

[SilentG20]

@kage1979

hmm, I don't think we're on the same page here, unfortunately. Let's start over!

do you know the difference between input as in "recording" and output?

do you know what is an optical zoom in a digital camera?

[Stere0123]

@TheNewFormula one year down.

[qwertz8484]

Try and secretly film somebody with that! ;-)

[Gibix]

Wow......... Nowadays when we record videos I just bust out with my cell phone........

We came a long way baby.....

[JimAsian1]

Yes, you're right. But I'm curious, I don't think the quality of these cell phone videos is very good as compared to a standard camcorder, or is it? If I am wrong, I'm sorry.

If I'm wrong, I apologize.

[Gibix]

Yea, its true unless you get the HD camera phone that some companies sell for almost 400.

[vigo894]

Yuo're not wrong Jim.

[AdamKyleAndDanny]

LOL light weight my ass.....

[FRANKIESHANOWSKIY2K0]

she's one happy lady dancing around

on the beach filming herself mind you most people have got the digitalised

cameras these days but the old method

of recording like this one is till hip today.

frankie smales

(retro tv advert fan)

[Cargo1273]

Lightweight? The girl got her own 20th Century Fox studio in her shoulder.

[nrt1997]

wow!

thats some crazy tech stuff!

that makes the vierra tv's look like shit!

wow!

just "slightly ahead of our time"

lol

[Hotshotter3000]

Those are the early VHS based cameras. Later on (my dad used one of those) cameras had miniture sized VHS reels or something that when put into some housing for them, would automatically expand and can play in any VCR. I don't know for how long it could record, but those cameras were awesome. Pity we never technically owned one.

[TheNewFormula]

I guess you are thinking about VHS-Compact (VHS-C)? They work just that way. The cassettes could hold up to 45 minutes of recording time in SP mode, and in LP mode the recording time was 90 minutes.

[Hotshotter3000]

Yeah, that's probably it. I loved using that camcorder and I would have probably made a million videos if we actually owned it. I think my dad was testing it out for someone. It was a very memorable night, too. We played dominoes after fiddling around it... man I can't believe I remember that night so well.

[liddlepeep]

Dang, this did everything, "By itself"

[monkeymirror]

Almost by itself

[Lachlant1984]

The music in this video reminds me of Maniac from the Flashdance Soundtrack which I have. Was the camera and the VCR available as a bundle or did you need to buy them seporately?

[Darkphoenix588]

i think they were doing about the maniac thing on purpose

[TMoorej]

you could get them either way, I still have mine and it still works great

[villan81]

makes the "Viera" look shit !

[level242]

Capitalizing on the Flashdance craze do doubt

[phantom3rdchannel]

wow i have and still use that exact vcr. i have a diffeerent camera though. a manual focus hiatachi and a ge

[1more4theroad]

I had a docking VCR like that, but GE...all Matsushita at the time (GE, Panasonic, etc.

The camera I had though opened on the side to review a full and complete character generator keypad, along with editing controls. I wish I still those! In the early 80's, it was $750 for the camera and same for the docking VCR. It was neat...could edit on the fly, add separate audio tracks, 7 pages of titles and lots more. It was fun!

[Lachlant1984]

You mean you could actually add text to videos on the fly out in the feild? That's absolutely incredible, especially for the early days of home video recording, how many new cameras can do that today?

[1more4theroad]

I taped a pool tournament with the likes of Steve Mizerak, Allen Hopkins, Mike Sigel back in the late 80's. During the shoot, I would add pages of titles to suit the scene that popped up. In one, I added why a player was disqualified. Now, so much time is needed to import the video into a program and hope the whole thing doesn't crash. There's something to be said about simplicity. If I get a chance, I will post a couple of titles I created with it. Even superimposing was possible.

[zjslwd]

LOL WUT?

[HueyHoggsbrother]

using this camera at the shore line is suggested a good practice!

[mellowmark1]

When does this come out?

[mellowmark1]

....by itself

[GundamGrimlock]

wow a camera and a VCR

[Mobius0487]

by itself

[carrieabay]

god! how much were those when they first came out? goodness

[1more4theroad]

I had a better camera that this one, but had a similar docking VCR. Both totaled out at $1500.

[Civonos]

Akmost $2,000

[infraredtechnician]

it was the blu-ray recorder of its day,as for the BRD its a shame they dont use it to its full potential,how many 7.1LPCM/1080p Blu-ray discs are out today,,02/01/2009..?

[JayAre561]

by itself

[outtokill7]

by itself

[Pantechnicon]

The reason she's dancing is because she's happy to be finally free of all that weight. My family had one of those in the day and it wasn't exactly easy to lug around. In the 1980's "portable" didn't necssarily mean "light".

[shirvington18]

LOL

[thegreatchore]

by itself

[navveed]

How did you get this ad. I mean did you or some recorded it in the 80's. Anyway like the old ads, they are simple and to the point.

[chuibock]

its just LOL! I wonder what young people gonna think aout DVD and BlueRay in 25 years.^^

[intrepgun]

same thing we think about this now. physical media is on the way out the door if you ask me.

[Manimal347]

I doubt they'll think too much of it because optical media is of uniform size and usually backwards compatible. They might not use them much, but readers won't be hard to find.

[trunk0070]

I puked in my mouth, to think what she looks like now.

[electrogeek77]

I remember them being big, but not two pieces big.

[dirthpool]

For those of you who laugh at this because they called it "lightweight" and "ahead of it's time," yeah, it was 1983, you fucking morons.

[BrightWave]

Now, why can't we have commercials like that now?

[analogWeapon]

"Connects (almost) by itself" ROFL!

[widerangledotcom]

"just slightly ahead of our time"

??? what kinda slogan is that ???

a bad one.

[govols1986]

yeah this was especially geared toward consumers who were interested in recording themselves having sex.

[ricobhi]

Panasonic...just slightly ahead...of itself. HAHA!

[gnd567]

Lightweight!!!!

[yummyhoagie]

Classic!

[johneymute]

yeah even back in those day,s porteble hadhelds exists like a vcr camera, tv and even gameconsoles but they were bulky and weird to use.

even pc,s and internet existed but internet was only availeble for the fbi.

[stpworld]

hey were can i get one of these anyone willing to sell me one i got a pannasonic portable vcr but it doenst work so well so if anyone has one like in the movie here email me on youtube for a price oh but you have to be near philli or reading area thanks

[stpworld]

i have one thats slgithly similar to this it works ok but it cant seem to rewind but the weird thing is it can reverse search can anyone help me with this problem i tried taking it apart but couldnt see anything

[schrollG]

It's unbelievable how far camcorder technology has come in the past 25 years. No one would have ever dreamed in 1983 that by 2008, people would have camcorders that fit in the palm of their hand.

[icpizzaboy]

i still have the rca portable from 1981 and is still works like its new but the only thing is its a 2 head mono recorder i also have the camera outfit with case as well

[gaallegos]

"Almost ahead of its time"

Gotta love it.

[WOLF192]

dvds suck

[MrAkA22]

that sucks good thing that we got dvds now

[stpworld]

hey just wonderd why do you think vhs sucks i still use it quite often and i find it to be pretty good

[MrAkA22]

well I guess your just an another fuckinig loser

[xargos]

One word... Betamax.

[vigo894]

You remember Beta units?

[Wadaay]

dayummm gotta get me one

[Chickengirl005]

wow i wonder how much that cost back then...

[newschannel]

3,000 at least, maybe? (price not adjusted for inflation)

[AccordionManiac]

I love that bit "almost by itself" they forgot to add "providing that you get the recorder to the place you want it, since it can't do that bit by itself. Buy Panasonic Today!"

[GamingPalooza]

connects almost by itself lol

[abcdefghiklmnop12345]

It records "By itself" no hand winding or crank!

[apachette07]

yeah it looks "lightweight"...you just have to benchpress 400 lbs before you take it with you...

[cretufan]

lol that is so 80s i l ove it

[letmeatem]

wow thats amazing where can i get one

[therimgreaper]

I always videotape myself dancing in the ocean

[newschannel]

"Connects almost by itself..."

That is an oxymoron, IMO. It either connects by itself (which would mean the VCR literally walking up to the docking station, and slide itself in) or it doesn't. In this case, we need to slide them in, so it doesn't connect almost by itself. It doesn't connect by itself.

[zoroloco]

panasonic has always been at the top of their game.

[vidlad]

Thankyou for this very interesting piece of video history.I bet all that sand and water would have canceled out any manufacturers guarantee ha ha,

Regards

Jim Clark

See hundreds of unique videos of acoustic musicians and poets under my youtube name of vidlad

[vidpop]

Before the HQ system was launched VHS was rubbish.

[Novysonic]

Lightweight video system :-))

[VideoJunkei]

1983? I thought hi-fi came out in '86....there was long-track stereo with dolby before that....

[holabakussie07]

classics

[oldbinny]

Count the amount of times "Panasonic" is said in your head.

[splotchwork5000]

(at the start when she's carrying the system) lightweight?...ok.

[VrrayTV]

I'll miss this commerical in 1983 I Miss it i wasn't born in 1983, I was Born in 1988.

[Jeff98177]

"Just slightly ahead of its time." Ooohhh kaaaay...

[BKyle215]

Wow! I needed to see this!!! It's like seeing a caveman showing off one of his first fires!! haha THANKS FOR THE UPLOAD!!! It seems 'FlashDance' had the nation CRAZY back then ~B.Kyle~

[frednora]

It looks like its about to get washed away in the ocean... by itself

[splotchwork5000]

frednora, nice and funny comment.

[connerconner]

byitself byitself byitself byitself byitself byitself omg!!

[BrianMc22]

wow hifi sound omg ahead of time

[stringanime]

Everything that is done now...Is recorded by God. Now that is not only futuristic, but ETERNAL!