Cheap camcorder - 6 years old

September 18, 2008 7:12 PM

What was the cheap cool camcorder to have in 2002?

This question concerns some research I'm doing for a screenplay set in 2002/2003 (eve of the Gulf War). Setting is North America so we're talking NTSC. Other flashes of insight as to cool, cheap audio-visual gear of the period (and related extrapolations) welcome.

posted by philip-random to media & arts (6 comments total)

The ViewCam? Huge clunkers that looked like this. Not sure about the coolness though.
posted by Xere at 7:42 PM on September 18, 2008

The non-cheap cool camcorder to have was a Canon XL-1.
posted by zsazsa at 7:47 PM on September 18, 2008

I had (and still have) a Canon ZR45 around that time. It was still the beginning of the adoption of mini-DV in consumer cameras. It was very small, yet still was full quality. Definitely in the low price range (it came with my computer).
posted by PixelatorOfTime at 9:04 PM on September 18, 2008

I would say the Sony DCR-TRV### were a line of cameras that were popular digital cameras at the time that used DV and had firewire etc.
posted by OwlBoy at 9:13 PM on September 18, 2008

I think I'm liking Canon ZR45. Thanks for the memory.
posted by philip-random at 9:30 PM on September 18, 2008

Yeah, seconding the ZR45.
posted by suedehead at 11:07 PM on September 18, 2008