Handycam is a

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

brand used to market its

camcorder A camcorder is a self-contained portable electronic device with video and recording as its primary function. It is typically equipped with an articulating screen mounted on the left side, a belt to facilitate holding on the right side, hot-swa ...

range. It was launched in 1985 as the name of the first Video8 camcorder, replacing Sony's previous line of

Betamax Betamax (also known as Beta, as in its logo) is a consumer-level analog recording and cassette format of magnetic tape for video, commonly known as a video cassette recorder. It was developed by Sony and was released in Japan on May 10, 1975, ...

-based models, and the name was intended to emphasize the "handy" palm size nature of the camera, made possible by the new miniaturized tape format. This was in marked contrast to the larger, shoulder mounted cameras available before the creation of Video8, and competing smaller formats such as VHS-C.

Formats

Sony has continued to produce Handycams HandyCam – CNet
/ref> in a variety of guises ever since, developing the Video8 format to produce Hi8 (equivalent to

S-VHS , the common initialism for Super VHS, is an improved version of the VHS standard for consumer-level video recording. Victor Company of Japan introduced S-VHS in Japan in April 1987, with their JVC-branded HR-S7000 VCR, and in certain oversea ...

quality) and later Digital8, using the same basic format to record

digital video Digital video is an electronic representation of moving visual images ( video) in the form of encoded digital data. This is in contrast to analog video, which represents moving visual images in the form of analog signals. Digital video compris ...

. The Handycam label continues to be applied as recording formats evolve.

Functionality

Night vision

Select flagship Sony HandyCam models feature infrared night-vision, dubbed ''NightShot'' which utilizes an infrared light-emitting diode and an infrared filter that is mechanically attached, and detached to the sensor in order to enable the camcorder to record video footage in complete darkness (''"Nightshot 0 lux"'').Sony DCR-SR90E/SR100E operation manual (2006)
/ref> The ''NightShot'' feature is popular with paranormal investigators on the Travel Channel's Ghost Adventures.

Meta data

MiniDV tape Handycam camcorders record a time code and video recording parameters (such as light sensitivity (in ''dB''),

aperture In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and focal length of an optical system determine the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. An ...

exposure time In photography, shutter speed or exposure time is the length of time that the film or digital sensor inside the camera is exposed to light (that is, when the camera's shutter (photography), shutter is open) when taking a photograph. The am ...

) on an additional

meta data Metadata is "data that provides information about other data", but not the content of the data, such as the text of a message or the image itself. There are many distinct types of metadata, including: * Descriptive metadata – the descriptive ...

track on the tape.Sony Handycam DCR-HC51E/HC52E/ HC53E/HC54E operation manual (2008)
/ref>

Models

* Video8 Handycam (1985-1989) (These continued for sale into the 90s) * Hi8 Handycam (1989-2007) * Digital8 Handycam (1999-2007) * DV Handycam (1995-) * HDV Handycam *

DVD-Handycam A camcorder is a self-contained portable electronic device with video and recording as its primary function. It is typically equipped with an articulating screen mounted on the left side, a belt to facilitate holding on the right side, hot-swa ...

* HDD Handycam *

Memory Stick The Memory Stick is a removable flash memory card format, originally launched by Sony in late 1998. In addition to the original Memory Stick, this family includes the Memory Stick PRO, a revision that allows greater maximum storage capacity ...

Handycam (using Memory Stick Pro Duo. Up to 16GB) *

SD Card Secure Digital, officially abbreviated as SD, is a proprietary non-volatile flash memory card format developed by the SD Association (SDA) for use in portable devices. The standard was introduced in August 1999 by joint efforts between SanD ...

Handycam (with or without internal flash memory) * 4K Handycam

External links

Handycam website of Sony Middle East and Africa

* http://www.sony-asia.com/microsite/handycam/

References

Sony camcorders {{camera-stub