JVC Videomovie GR-AX810U / AX910U: Test Footage

The line of camcorders dating back to the mid-80s, with an iconic debut in Back to the Future! Does JVC's GR-AX810 and GR-AX910 camcorders stand up to their predecessors?

In case you're wondering, the only difference between the GR-AX810 and the GR-AX910 is that the 910 has a color viewfinder. I have one of each of these models (hence the intro in which the camera films itself).

I had used the 810, but it then decided to start eating my tapes. It even did this in such a subtle way, because it never really indicated there was an issue (except for the occasional "check tape" error, which I figured was just the old camera gremlins, they'd both given this error before in spite of the tape being perfectly fine). The only part that didn't work was the camera's ability to take up the tape after it had been recorded to, so it was just completely crushing and sandwiching the tape into the inside of the camcorder. Pulled a good 20 feet of it out after a night, footage ruined.