Sony celebrates 25th anniversary of Handycam camcorders

Sony has gotten a birthday party (PR campaign?) under way for the Handycam camcorder series, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.

The first model of the series,  the CCD-M8 camcorder, debuted way back in 1985, which was the size of a two Beta video cassettes. Flash forward to the present, and you have the HDR-CX550V, the 2010 flagship of the brand. Boasting a Exmor R CMOS sensor and 26.3mm wide-angle lens, this Handycam records full HD 1080p video to either flash media or an external hard disk.

The Handycam series is far from having a quarter-life crisis and has become one of Sony's more solid, well-known product collections. With a wide range in both pricing and capability, from professional devices to mini-camcorders like the Bloggie (which technically falls under this umbrella), it looks like there is a lot more expect from Sony. To get a full taste of the birthday fun, check out Sony's video down memory lane.

Also celebrating its 25th birthday is America Online. As PCMag points out, it's amazing AOL has survived this long, and I'm willing to bet that the Handycam brand is more likely to be around for another 25 years if I had to pick one of the two.