A typical handheld consumer color vidicon camera from 1981. This camera is in brand new, display condition, as it came in Its original box, and original packaging. the only thing missing was the foam windscreen for the microphone, which had degraded, and i replaced. It also came with the user manual, which i have in the "video related literature" section. It appears that it was never used after it was bought originally. This model is not particularly rare, and this exact camera has been branded by many different manufacturers', including Panasonic, RCA, and Sylvania. This was one of the first cameras to use this design, where the handle sticks out infront of the camera while it rests on your shoulder, and the viewfinder is mounted to the top and sticks out to the side. This was the layout that most portapak (non-camcorder) consumer cameras took on, going into the 80s. Then they started using Newvicon tubes around 1982, got more light and compact, etc. And then the camcorder came along. This camera uses a 2/3 inch tube, like most color cameras started to do in the early 80s.
On the side panel, there are switches to switch from the indoor to outdoor filter, and a manual/auto iris switch. The viewfinder has a switch on the eye-piece side of it, which rotates the picture 180' so that it can be flipped to either side of the camera, allowing it to be held with your right or left hand. Below the switch, there are pots for brightness and contrast. On the back, there is a red/blue dial, a gain switch, fade switch, operate/standby switch, and an input for a VCR remote. Below that panel is an 1/8 inch mic jack. When it was new, a big advertising point, was that it had a power zoom. They even put the words "power zoom" on the front above the lens! (see photo) The place they put the power zoom control is unusual, but quite smart: on the top of the viewfinder eye-cup! It's actually a good place, since most people keep their hand on the viewfinder cup, to adjust it. there's a zoom speed switch for "fast" and "slow" zoom speeds, but neither speed zooms very fast! There is a record button on the detachable handle, which connects to the camera with an 1/8 inch jack that plugs into the bottom. below the lens is an auto white balance button. There is an extendable microphone on the top. It is in great operational condition, and didn't need any repairs done to it. When i tested it outdoors, it had very low lag, for a vidicon, since it never had any hours on it.