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Camera

Sony

Sony Portapak

Portable half-inch reel-to-reel video recording system introduced by Sony in 1967. The two-piece kit weighed about 25 pounds and recorded up to 30 minutes of black-and-white video. It was the first system that allowed a single person to shoot video outside a studio, and it became a foundational tool for video art, guerrilla television, and activist documentary.

Artists who use this(1)

Babette Mangolte

Connection note

Operated the Sony Portapak for Joan Jonas's Organic Honey, Vertical Roll (1972), performing continuous camera movement synchronized to Jonas's movement
Interview ↗

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Last updated March 20, 2026