 This limitation in combination with the decline of the Betamax format in the late 1980s, caused Sony to abandon the Betamovie line just a few years after its initial release in favor of its newly developed Video8 format.As far back as the 1960s, cameras were available for the reel-to-reel portable VTRs of that time.These cameras were similar in size and weight to the cine-cameras of the day.