Can the Sony a7S III Keep Up With This Camcorder From 1998?

I promise this is not actually a serious comparison. It is hilarious, however. Sony's new a7S III is the pinnacle of its latest video technology, and it brings with it a plethora of advanced features and capabilities. But let's not forget Sony's once-popular line of Handycam camcorders. This great video takes a look at the two and why the Handycam just might be better.

Coming to you from Kinotika, this hilarious video compares the Sony a7S III to a Sony Handycam camcorder from 1998. Of course, the a7S III absolutely demolishes the camcorder, but it is fun to remember just how nifty the Handycams were in their day. One particularly neat feature was Nightshot. In cameras with this capability, the IR filter could be moved out of the optical path to the sensor while an infrared light was turned on, allowing you to film in total darkness. Other Sony models even had built-in projectors to play back your videos, quite the convenient features in the days when you had to do things like hook your camcorder up to your TV with RCA cables. In my case, we had to take a MiniDV tape (which looked like a small VHS tape) and put it into a special VHS tape adapter like some sort of VHS inception. On another note, I now feel very old after having written that last sentence. Anyway, check out the video above for a good laugh or two. 

Alex Cooke's picture

Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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2 Comments

Sony was known for video cameras way before they got into the DSLR market. I still own a fifteen year old Sony camcorder.

Exactly, Sony camcorders and VCR's(and TV's) were all top notch back into the early 90's