Forget the classic Point-and-Shoot, the Barbie Wireless Video Camera is the vintage Handicam of your dreams.

It’s no secret that Gen Z has rediscovered the digital camera of most millennials. But while 20-year-old point-and-shoot cameras are fun, the truest of them all might just be the Barbie Wireless Video Camera.

Coming to you from classic tech YouTuber 8 bit guy is a detailed analysis of the Barbie Wireless Video Camera, first released in 2001. I am no stranger to children’s cameras, after having thoroughly researched about it. Fisher-Price Kid-Tough Digital Camera a few years back, but the technology in this camera even predates digital cameras, using a wireless transmitter that plugs into a VCR and records to a VHS cassette. That said, the transmitter can plug into anything that uses a standard yellow/white RCA cable, since that’s what the receiver seems to output. Fully capable with the right setup, this can become a direct-to-digital camera.

The camera is definitely nicer than the faceless gray boxes that most digital cameras rocked back in the early 2000s. Its eye-catching white body is embellished with dots. purple and pink accents and a cheesy but interesting “viewfinder” that’s completely fake and flips out from the side of the camera body. Surprisingly there is a microphone input and an included microphone that works. Not even a modern day Canon EOS Rebel T7 included one of those, and it cost $399, as opposed to $99 for this camera back in 2001 (or about $167 in today’s money, which is actually an expensive toy camera) money for children). It was a confusing inclusion, but perhaps they were encouraging young girls of the time to perform karaoke or pose as reporters?

There are plenty of filters for photos and videos in modern apps to make footage appear as if it were shot on old VHS tapes, but thanks to interference from modern WiFi signals, much of what cameras Video recording Barbie spinning has many glitches, lines and distortions as a result. As The 8-Bit Guy pointed out, in 2001, WiFi interference was much less common because the technology was only a few years old and most people were still plugging in an ethernet cable or using a dial-up. to access the internet.

Image quality from the camera, regardless of noise, actually looks pretty good and is probably on par with other low-cost camcorders of the time. It’s hard to judge, as most of the surrounding footage then looks equally bad due to the low resolution. If one wants to create vintage videos or photos (perhaps through screenshots), this can be one of the more interesting ways to do it.

I? I’ll go dig mine SonyMavica Currently.