Sony is to stop selling its range of ½-inch tape machines and camcorders in just over a year’s time.

The manufacturer has targeted March 2016 as the date by which it will cease sales and distribution of its professional VTRs and camcorders, owing to what it described as “the global trend of migration towards file-based operation”.

Service support will be provided until March 2023 – seven years after it expects to stop selling the kit.

Sony said the move would not affect the supply of professional tape media.

The announcement was made shortly after Channel 4 and ITV switched to mandatory file-based delivery of programmes at the start of last month.

The announcement covers Sony’s HDW-F900R and HDW-650 cameras as well as the following tape machines:

J-H1; J-H3; J-30SDI; HDW-S2000; HDW-M2000; HDW-M2100; HDW-2000; HDW-D2000; HDW-1800; HDW-D1800; HDW-S280; MSW-2000; MSW-A2000P; MSW-M2100P; DVW-M2000P; DVW-2000;  ; SRW-5100; SRW-5500; SRW-5800.

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