A low cost video recording apparatus for one time recording on a recording medium, comprises a casing (15) which houses a video cassette tape, a lens (1), a microphone (16), a colour CMOS sensor, a signal processing module, a write head and a drive unit, in operational relation to each other. Also provided is a view finder (21) and an operating switch (22). The casing (15) has formed thereon a tear strip (20) used for opening the casing once recording has been completed. Removal of the cassette tape also involves disabling of tape guide components. Since one time recording only is possible with no playback or rewind, the life requirements for the various components can be considerably reduced.