International. 30 years ago personal computers didn't even reach a million units, pop music was at its peak, and most phones were stuck on a wall. It was in this context that a product arrived that forever changed the relationship and the level of intimacy that video has in our daily lives: Handycam.
Handycam CCD-M8 was launched on May 28, 1985, beginning a long and proud history. This model caused a sensation because it was the first truly portable equipment with which people could create home videos with great ease.
Before this equipment Sony had already launched some portable cameras, such as the Video Rover or Videocorder CV-2400 in 1967, which recorded in black and white and was the first portable camera in the consumer electronics market. It was followed by the HCV-F1 in 1981, the BetaMovie BMC100 in 1983 and the CCD-V8 in 1985.
However, CCD-M8 changed the video recording landscape forever: when shooting on 8mm cassettes, it was about half the size of a Beta, something truly small for those times. All this, without compromising the audio and image quality and without overheating.
It received the name Handycam because it could be held with one hand, surpassing its shoulder-leaning predecessors and complicated to use. Moreover, by incorporating a simple button to record and stop, it made it available to everyone to capture moments of daily life without major complication.
The evolution of his way of recording is an example of this. The 8 mm cassettes gave way to Hi8, DV, 8 cm DVD and HDD, until reaching the current ones: Flash memories and live streaming recording.
Throughout its history, Sony Handycam has been a brand that has distinguished itself by adopting – and pioneering, in many cases – new technologies:
The CCD-TR55 model, from 1989, was at the time the smallest camera in the world.
In 1992 the CCD-TR900 emerged, which incorporated for the first time image stabilizer.
The CCD-VX1, released in 1992, was the first camera to integrate a triple CCD sensor. Thanks to this, the captured light could be divided into red, green and blue, each by means of a specific sensor, providing a greater amount of colors.
In 1996 Sony unveiled DCR-PC7, the first camera to have a "passport" type design, which was very small and lightweight.
DCR-IP7, from 2001, was the smallest camera in the world that incorporated Bluetooth technology.
The HDR-FX1, released in 2004, was the first 3CCD model in the world to record on HDV 1080.
HDR-HC1, from 2005, was the first HDV CMOS camera.
The HDR-SR1 model, released in 2006, was the first camera to record in AVCHD HDD format, providing great image quality.
The HDR-TG1 camera of 2008 improved even more in terms of image quality, being the first to record in AVCHD Full HD/MS.
In 2010 NEX-VG10 was launched, the first HD camcorder with interchangeable lenses.
A year later, in 2011 HDR-PJ50V came out, the first camera with integrated video projector.
Also in 2011 the first Full HD 3D camera, HDR-TD10, was born.
The 2012 NEX-VG900 was the first consumer electronics interchangeable lens camcorder with a full frame sensor.
In 2013 FDR-AX1 came out, the first 4K camcorder for consumer electronics.
The 2014 FDR-AX100 camera was the first compact Handycam 4K.
And the new members of the Sony 4K family, unveiled at CES2015, FDR-AX33 and FDR-AXP35, the first with the exclusive Balanced Optical SteadyShot technology in this format.
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