Sony

Sony is a Japanese electronics manufacturer and media conglomerate headquartered in Tokyo. They manufacture a wide variety of A/V electronics, including camcorders. They are best known for introducing the Betamax format in 1975, which competed with VHS throughout the 1980s; and for introducing (or, at least, vitalizing) the 8mm format ten years later, which competed with JVC's VHS-C until both formats were rendered obsolete by tapeless media.

Camcorders
Sony is a ubiquitous brand in the camcorder market, producing everything from consumer-grade handheld camcorders (known as Handycams) to digital movie cameras. They are considered by some to be the most prestigious brand on the consumer camcorder market. Their older camcorders are quite popular among collectors and enthusiasts, possibly more than any other brand.

Distinguishing Features
There are several features that stand out on Sony camcorders. Additionally, Sony was the proprietary manufacturer of the short-lived Ruvi and MicroMV formats. In 1999, they introduced the Digital8 format, which was a compromise between the cheaper Hi8 and the more expensive MiniDV. They were the primary manufacturer of the equipment. Hitachi made a number of units as well, but they didn't sell as well as those made by Sony and were discontinued within a few years.
 * All analog small-tape camcorders were 8mm. No VHS-C camcorders were ever produced.
 * While most camcorders had auxiliary LCDs in the 1980s and early 1990s, Sony put auxiliary LCDs on virtually all of their camcorders until the mid-2000s, even on models with color LCD screens (the display was typically on the back of the screen). On 8mm-based camcorders produced from approximately 1996 to 2002, the auxiliary display was backlit. These displays showed information such as battery level, format, time and day (analog only), and the time code/tape counter.
 * LANC jacks.
 * Green trim on headphone jacks, yellow trim on A/V jacks, red trim on external mic jacks, and blue trim on LANC jacks.
 * Mode selector wheels are locked into the "off" position with a green button.
 * On tape transport controls, the "play" and "stop" symbols are usually hollow.
 * Distinctive "melody" beeps on units produced from 1998 and later.
 * Sony was an early adopter of lithium-ion batteries. By the year 2000, nickel-cadmium batteries had been phased out, even on their analog units.
 * Unlike many camcorder manufacturers, buttons are almost always single-use (i.e. they never "double" as anything else, like they do on camcorders made by JVC or Canon).
 * Consumer camcorders often have a feature called "NightShot," which uses infrared light and a filter to illuminate dark areas. This produces a distinctive green picture.
 * Consumer camcorders tend to be feature-rich and more advanced than those of other brands. Despite this, later lower-end units didn't include options for setting white balance or shutter speed manually. Only program AE and exposure could be set.
 * Accessory shoes can physically accommodate any accessory (assuming the shoe mount is the correct size), but are only electronically compatible with Sony-made accessories.
 * Most digital camcorders are multistandard in VCR mode - i.e. they can play either NTSC or PAL tapes regardless of the standard of the camera itself. Most analog PAL camcorders can play back analog NTSC tapes with some limitations.
 * Most digital camcorders can convert NTSC's Line 21 closed-captioning signals between A/V and DV. Even the PAL units have this capability (albeit from DV to A/V only, as these units will not accept an analog NTSC input).
 * MiniDV camcorders can play DVCAM recordings.

Naming Conventions
Sony's naming conventions for its tape camcorders were relatively straightforward. Each name can be split into three parts: the type of camcorder, the type of body, and the number.

Type of Camcorder
The first part of the name, before the hyphen.

Number
For digital camcorders, the number that follows "TRV" can be one, two, or three digits. If it has three digits, the unit is a Digital8 camcorder (the only exceptions are the DCR-TRV900, TRV940, and TRV950, all of which are MiniDV). Otherwise, it is a MiniDV camcorder. Numbers that follow "TR" are typically high-end early units.

For analog camcorders, there is no known or obvious convention for the number of digits or what they mean. There may be either two or three digits, and this number is consistent throughout a series.

For both analog and digital, typically, as the digit that changes in a series number gets higher, the more high-end and expensive the camera is.

System Suffixes
Sony adds an "E" at the end of the numbers for its PAL units. Some NTSC models are followed by a "P," the meaning of this is unknown (likely to indicate region).

List of Camcorders
*: Will not play analog 8mm recordings.