The Sony Portapak was developed by Sony in 1967. It was a battery powered, analog video tape recording camera. One of the most innovative parts of the camera is that it could be carried and operated by a single person, as opposed to older video camera’s. These older camera’s even required an entire vehicle to transport these heavy camera’s and had to be mounted to a camera pedestal.
The quality of the Sony Portapak was lesser than television studio cameras but gained popularity among professional and amateur videographers due to it’s portability. Prior to the Portapak, television news footage was shot on 16mm film.
The first Portapak was the Sony DV-2400, a black and white composite video camera recorded on 1/2 inch. While it could be operated by a single person it was still often controlled by a 2-person crew – one person to operate the camera and another person to carry and operate the playback device.
The Portapak was innovative to video art, guerilla television, and activism. Because of the affordability and instant playback capabilities of the Sony Portapak people were able to create and distribute videos separate from the big, mainstream production houses.
The Portapak was also essential to the development of future forms of video communication. The Raindance Foundation was essential in this process, using artists, academics, and scientists to help develop this innovating piece of technology.