TIMES CHANGE: Back in 1967, this was your average camcorder. “Actually, the Ampex VR-3000 backpack—only $42,000 for the basic recorder without accessories—with BC-300 BW Camera—just $12,685—was the only camcorder available.”

Now you can get a camera that is in many ways superior, but that fits in a pocket and costs less than $200.

UPDATE: Reader Jerry Davis emails:

I worked with one of those 3000’s. The blurb’s not quite accurate, in that they recorded either NTSC or PAL, not both. The four heads were attached to a wheel that rotated across the width of the videotape. That mechanism was needed because recording video requires a high head-to-tape speed, and the only other way to get it would have required huge reels of tape moving very fast.

The actual move from film to video for newsgathering came a few years later, in the early seventies. It was primarily driven by the availability of the Norelco PCP-70 portable color camera, and the Sony portable 3/4 inch tape recorder.

Those with a technical bent might be interested in knowing that the 3000 had no capstan pinch-roller, resulting in the tape speed varying from the front to the back of the reel. Playing the material back on a studio quad recorder required you to constantly adjust speed. They also had no built-in color playback capability. And the bloody thing weighed about 30 pounds. Lots of fun jogging up a hill with one of those on your back.

TV cameramen used to be big guys; now not always.