A 8mm Camcorder

The 8mm Video Format (official name: Video8) is a type of video cassette recorder and video tape. It is mainly used with video cameras. 8mm cameras were popular because the small tape size meant video cameras using this format could be much smaller than cameras using the VHS format.

The tapes are about the size of an audio casette, making the format popular for travel when space is at a premium. The tapes generally are either 60 minutes or 120 minutes long. The video quality is somewhat better than that of the VHS format. There is a high quality standard for this type of system, which is known as Video Hi8, as well as a new digital format, called Digital8.

One of the major drawbacks of the format is that the tapes are incompatible with VHS VCRs. Because the tape size is different than a standard VHS tape, it is not possible to make an adapter for the tapes that would fit in a VHS VCR. The VHS-C format is compatible with regular VCRs through an adapter, this is because the tape is the same size as a regular tape, it's merely in a more compact cassette design. However, cameras do come with audio video output cables which allow the video produced with the camera to either be shown on a television, or outputted to a VHS VCR and recorded onto a VHS tape. While some of the quality is lost in the transfer, because of the improved quality of the 8mm format a VHS copy's quality will still be very good.

8mm Video Tape

The format is mainly used with video cameras, and today is one of the dominant formats for video cameras. There were attempts to move the format over to the home VCR market as a replacement for VHS tapes. 8mm VCRs were manufactured, and even some 8mm tape versions of some movies were sold. However these attempts were generally not successful, and until the price of DVDs fell to reasonable levels, VHS remained the dominant format for home use.

The 8mm video format was standardized in 1984. In Sony introduced the Handycam, one of the first cameras to record on to 8mm video tapes. This type of camera soon became more popular than the more bulky VHS camcorder.

8mm is still a popular format for video cameras, however it has currently been superseded by miniDV, also referred to as DV. DV uses a smaller shell and records digitally delivering better quality. Much like 8mm, the footage still needs to be "transferred" to another format such as VHS or DVD before it can be distributed. Numerous manufacturers have now released camcorders that incorporate writable DVD-R as their storage medium. Major advantages of this new format is that the quality of the recordings is very good, and the discs are compatible with regular DVD players. Also, many feature an anologue input (see below) which allow the transfer of 8mm tapers to a newer and more robust format.

Transferring 8mm footage to a Computer for editing

As 8mm is an Analog format, it requires capturing to computer via an analog capture card. This converts the signal that comes out of the cameras A/V sockets into a digital image that can be archived to computer, DVD or DV format. Many consumer miniDV and DVD cameras feature a built in analogue to digital converter that will convert an 8mm output into the digital domain. Video footage can then be captured via a firewire socket.

Digital8 cameras feature backwards compatible 8mm support, and most will play the tapes out to the firewire socket for digital capture to computer or DVD recorder. Video Hi8s are also a new re-released hi quality version of 8mm video.

Lifespan of 8mm Tapes

It is also worth noting that 8mm tapes (like all videotape) will eventually deteriorate and lose their recorded contents over time. Tapes that are older than 10 years may start to degrade. Amongst other problems, they can become sticky and jam playback units or become brittle and snap. It is recommended that footage archived on the 8mm format, be transferred to miniDV (for future editing) or DVD (for long term optical archiving).

Damaged videotapes can be repaired by specialist companies and usually restored to their former glory. Professional transfer centers also correct dropouts resulting in a cleaner restoration.

Like all videotape, 8mm tapes should be stored vertically out of direct sunlight, in a dry, cool dust free environment.