8mm - Hi 8mm - Digital 8mm
DIGITAL8 is a format that is far superior to HI-8 or 8MM. Sony was the first to introduce this format and has done a great job. It is backwardly compatible, meaning that the new Digital8 camcorders and VCR's will also play your 8MM and HI-8 tapes. You do not have to buy special tapes to record in Digital8. A regular 8MM or HI-8 tape will record up to 60 minutes of digital video and audio. Because of the design, using regular tapes is not a problem, but it uses twice as much tape. A 2 hour HI-8 or 8MM tape will record 60 minutes when done in the Digital mode and records up to 500 lines of resolution.
HI-8 camcorders record their signal at about 400 lines of resolution, slightly less than Mini DV, but substantially higher than 8mm or regular VHS formats. Most often, HI-8 camcorders record sound in hi-fi stereo. Slight quality loss is suffered when copying or editing from HI-8, but a better than average image is maintained.
Tapes from HI-8 camcorders generally must be played using the camera as the source, which means the user often must connect cables to their television or VCR. HI-8 tapes can be bought in 30, 60, and 120-minute lengths.
8MM camcorders often have many of the best features found in higher priced HI-8 units, including image stabilization, strong optical and digital zooms and innovative special effects. Regular 8mm tapes are the exact size and shape as their HI8 counterparts, but record video at a lower resolution level, and therefore, are less expensive than camcorders which product better image quality. 8mm can record for up to 2 hours and has a resolution of 270 lines.
HI-8 and regular 8MM tapes cannot be put into a standard VHS video recorder, a common misconception. There are no adapters to achieve this.
a high quality tape, a bit larger than a MiniDV tape, generally used in video cameras from the late 1980's to the present.
We can transfer your 8mm tapes to DVD. Most 8mm tapes were designed to record for 2 hours, or 120 minutes. Our price structure is as follows:
Length of video on tape is less than or equal to 1 hour - $29.95
Length of video on tape is greater than 1 hour - $39.95
We offer quantity discounts for multiple tapes. Contact us for more information and pricing.