What is a 'cold' accessory shoe on a camcorder? Is there a difference in types?

Question

What is a 'cold' accessory shoe on a camcorder? Is there a difference in types?

Answer 1

'cold' meaning no power/communication between the camcorder and the accessory.  Some camcorders (e.g., Sony) have a 'smart' accessory shoe for use with proprietary accessories such as video lights, microphones, etc.

Answer 2

The accessory shoe was invented for still cameras. It was a popular way to mount a flash, so somebody got the idea that the flash sync connection should be brought up to the shoe, that way you don't have to plug in a cord. Such an arrangement was called a "hot shoe" and is almost universal on still cameras. A shoe with no connections, just a holding device for accessories, has recently been dubbed a "cold shoe" and is more common on Video cameras. A smart shoe can deliver power to a video light or act as flash sync. FYI in the early days of photography, the most popular accessory to put on the shoe was not a flash but a light meter.