Did I buy a fake camcorder?
 

I recently bought a JVC SuperVHS-C camcorder off of Ebay.

It was an impulse buy (got it for $1.99!) so thorough research was not part of the equation.

The only problem is that I can't find any record of JVC ever having produced this particular model. It's labeled a GR-SXM720. Google searches turn up nothing other than generic links for 3rd party accesories for it. JVC has no mention of it on their website. It looks identical to the JVC GR-SXM520U that they have in their archive section (pic below) except that the viewfinder on my camera is shorter. The Zoom control wheel on the top of the camera is labeled "VOL", which seems... curious. Perhaps this was common on JVC models.

I haven't done lots of testing. The camera only showed up yesterday. But it seems to be working normally. I recorded to a tape and played it back. The video out works. The charger worked. Unfortunately, the seller didn't include the DC-out cable so I can power the camera with the AC adapter. That little cable will cost me more than the camera itself. Here are some (blurry) pictures.

http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/imag...e1dcf3th-1.jpg http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/imag...p4df5ath-1.jpg
http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/imag...02/bckth-1.jpg http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/imag...02/lblth-1.jpg
http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/imag...2/iujhth-1.jpg http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/imag...b0aed9th-1.jpg
http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/imag...2/dfesth-1.jpg http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/imag...nd028bth-1.jpg

and the official GR-SXM520U
http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/imag...WY6PRLth-1.jpg

So is the 720 a legitimate JVC item? Why don't they list it on their website? Any information you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

it's probably real. All models get updates, plus the camcorder is old. I got a JVC a few weeks ago for 12.00 shipped. Works great.

Here's the next version from JVC.
http://resources.jvc.com/Resources/0...T0705-001B.pdf

http://www.manualslib.com/products/J...0u-247765.html

makes it sound real.

I highly, highly doubt it's fake. That'd be weird to fake a camcorder, even then.

We had several GR-SXM920, which was clearly the successor. This one probably pre-dated it by a year or two. I know that mine was not the first model. There had been others.

JVC rarely lists everything on their sites, then or now.

Is the zoom control on all JVC camcorders labeled "Volume"?

In playback mode, it is volume.
In record mode, it's zoom.

Thanks.
I guess they saved $0.0000001 per unit by not printing "Vol/Zoom". :)

Never heard that JVC brand has been cloned especially camcorders, There isn't money in faking camcorders back in the days, parts where expensive, The most common items they were faking back in the 80"s and 90's are the boom boxes, car radios and speakers, I have seen a lot of them in Europe and north Africa and they come from Asia , They were branded Sunny, Sonny, Panasoanic those just the three fake brands that I still remember but there were a lot.

A big issue with camcorders (and other larger ticket electronics and cameras) was "gray market," items brought in via other than the official import channels, and thus had no workable warranty in the USA. (Sometimes it had what was called an "international warranty" which I believe meant the owner on the hook to send it back to the country of origin at his/her cost/risk.) That saved significant cost (perhaps 20% or more) compared to authorized dealers channels, based on the lack of warranty, no burden for US advertising costs, and of course the additional distribution channel (jobber and distributor) mark-ups.

A fair number of the second tier NYC mail order houses offered this sort of stuff; and they often added the the BBB case file reading lists too!