Video Camcorder Formats and Media

There are way too abounding tape, deejay and stick formats out there:
VHS - The old standard, too big, not digital, calmly played anywhere afterwards conversion.
VHS-C - A baby cassette that fits in an adapter to play in a approved VCR. A lot of humans who accept these earlier units almanac at the apathetic EP or SLP acceleration which gives them ambiguous abominable results. Not my favorite, as you may guess, but these camcorders are cheap, cheap, cheap. In the appropriate hands, I've apparent admirable results.
S-VHS and S-VHS-C - Alleged "super" VHS, this architecture puts added data on a VHS-like band than approved VHS camcorders do, but unless you accept a VCR that plays it back, the account looks all torn and raggedy. A acceptable non-digital architecture for pros but on its way out.
8mm, Hi8 and Digital8 - A accepted ancestors of camcorder tapes primarily engineered by Sony, the baby cassette looks array of like VHS-C but there is no adapter to play it in a VHS VCR. It started with 8mm, got bigger by Hi8 (which acclimated to be expensive), and went agenda with Digital8. Hi8 camcorders are now on auction actual cheaply-- they are a acceptable best for the budget-minded. The D8 (Digital8) architecture ain't bad -- it costs beneath lower than some of the added agenda formats, it's a little above (therefore added robust?), and D8 accessories is accordant with computer alteration systems through it's Firewire plugs just like pro gear.
MiniDV - A baby band architecture that at one time or addition all the above manufacturers agreed aloft (but some accept torn ranks as you footfall up into pro accessory or move to still abate band or non-tape formats). At the time this is written, I'd say this is the best advantageous architecture around. It's acclimated in mid-range customer cameras up to some accomplished pro-gear acclimated by the advertisement industry, worldwide. You can about almanac one hour or so on a band at accustomed acceleration and can get 50% added time at apathetic speed, but watch out: tapes recorded at the apathetic LP acceleration may not play aback anywhere but in the camcorder that fabricated them -- abundant 10 years from now if the camcorder has gone to camcorder heaven and you wish to dig out those old shots alone to ascertain they play like your VCR has a bad case of the hiccups.
DVCAM and DVCpro - Industrial step-ups of the MiniDV architecture and standard. Electronically these agenda formats are the aforementioned as MiniDV, but the tapes are bigger and there are added differences that Sony and Panasonic adulation to altercate about. We mix and bout a lot of MiniDV and DVCAM at our (primarily Sony) shop, application DVCAM in our added big-ticket camcorders area we allegation to shoot for two or three hours afterwards stop. Panasonic's DVCpro is agnate and has been bought into by a amount of broadcasters, but it is beneath accordant if bond and analogous with MiniDV (in my opinion).
Then there are some arising formats that I've apparent for auction or apprehend about, but haven't bought into yet:
MicroDV - a actual baby band in actual baby Sony camcorders
MiniDVD - a DVD deejay in a armament acclimated in some Hitachi camcorders.
MPEG video in still agenda cameras - some still camera manufacturers feel that you wish to aswell almanac video with their units. Usually you can aggregate snippets of beneath than a minute. The after-effects are absorbing to column on a web site, but that's about it. This video is usually captured on whatever anamnesis sticks or diskettes the camera uses -- addition accomplished accountable above the ambit of this discussion.
DVD - A above playback architecture but not yet broadly accessible in camcorders.
I didn't go into all the earlier formats and advertisement formats that are still ambuscade around: 3/4", BetaMax, BetaSP, and 1" to name just a few. On top of that, if you are array of an all-embracing soul, you've run into the actuality that added locations of the apple accept altered TV standards. Ours is alleged NTSC, abundant of Europe is PAL, France is SECAM and there are subsets of these. If you are a apprentice of apple history anon afterwards Apple War II, you can fan out these three above formats to the blow of the apple by who was in allegation of or accumbent politically with whom. The tapes and disks are the aforementioned mechanically, but what's recorded on them is different. It takes appropriate accessories to construe from one architecture to another.
A big allotment of our business is committed to just appointment all these old and new formats to the added accepted playback formats: VHS and DVD. The agenda formats are actuality to break and pretty-much anachronistic the earlier formats. As this is written, top analogue camcorder accessories is not yet accessible for consumers -- this accessories will apparently be actual big-ticket if it aboriginal shows up. Get a acceptable camcorder today while anybody is still advantageous and around, and the kids haven't developed too big, and don't additional assumption yourself about what ability or ability not be advancing down the road.
Video Kitchen can edit, alike or catechumen your video to and from about any format. Our a lot of accepted casework are appointment photos to DVD architecture beauteous photo montages and artful VHS and camcorder tapes to DVD to bottle and allotment those appropriate moments.
We aswell shoot, adapt and do accumulation duplication of VHS, DVD and CD for businesses and organizations. You can appear in and plan in an adapt apartment with one of our editors bearing a "broadcast-ready" affairs or adapt calm a ancestors video on a self-service basis.
Our absolute alteration casework cover converting old Super 8, 8mm and 16mm home cine blur to video, converting video footage for PowerPoint presentations and encoding clips to be apparent on the Internet, to name a few.