A lot goes into deciding what camcorder to purchase, including factors as basic as how the camcorder feels in your hand and as complex as how many special effects it can perform, but one must also choose the camcorder format that will be best to work with.
Choosing a format is not always an easy decision. There are currently seven formats available for the camcorder consumer, all with strengths and weaknesses, depending on your video needs.
Almost everyone owns a VHS VCR (a lot of us own two or three) so it would seem logical that the best camcorder format would be one that plays and records on regular VHS tapes. Not necessarily. The needs of shooting live video can be very different than the needs of recording and viewing video at home. Below is a basic overview of the various camcorder formats available to the consumer.
Analog Camcorder Formats
Full-Size VHS:
1. Uses Regular VHS tapes, just like a VHS VCR. The recorded tape can be played in a regular VHS VCR just like any other VHS tape. Video Resolution is 240/250 lines just like VHS VCR.
2. Tape Speeds of 2hrs (SP) and 6hrs (EP/SLP) just like VHS VCR (although some units may only have 2hr SP speed available).
3. Due to the size of VHS Tape, these camcorders must be shoulder mounted during shooting.
4. Sound quality is poor, audio is recorded in the same fashion as a non-HIFI VCR.
5. Manufacturers: Full size VHS camcorders for the consumer market are no longer being manufactured, however professional and used units may still be available from professional dealers and online sources.
Compact VHS (also known as VHS-C):
1. Uses a smaller version of VHS tape. Tape must be placed into an adapter (one is provided with each VHS-C camcorder) in order to be played back in a home VCR. The Camcorder can also be connected to a VCR or TV via AV cables and the tapes can then be copied onto a regular VHS Tape if desired.
2. Video resolution is the same as regular VHS VCR, 240-250 lines.
3. Tape speeds are SP(30min) and EP/SLP(90min). Since the tapes are much smaller than a regular VHS tape, the amount of tape available in the cassette is much less, necessitating shorter recording times. 4. With smaller tapes, these camcorders can be much smaller, thus are easily handheld, rather than shoulder mounted.
5. The sound quality is the same as a Full Size VHS camcorder or non-HiFi VCR.
6. Manufacturers include, Panasonic, JVC, and RCA.
8mm:
1. Uses tape that is smaller than that of VHS or VHS-C. Tape can be played back by connecting the camcorder via A/V cables to a VCR or TV. Tapes can be transfered (copied) to a regular VHS tape. Note: An 8mm tape cannot be placed in a regular VHS VCR for playback, there is no 8mm/VHS adapter!
2. Video resolution is 250 lines, about the same as VHS or VHS-C (although the color consistency on 8mm is slightly better).
3. Tape speed is typically 2hrs (SP) although Sony supports a 4hr (LP) tape speed in their newer camcorders.
4. Since the tapes are extemely small (about the size of an audio cassette), 8mm camcorders are small units that are easily handheld
5. Sound quality is very good. Sound is recorded in the same fashion as on a HiFi VCR.
6. Manufacturers include; Canon, Sony, Sharp, Samsung, and Hitachi
SVHS-C:
1. This format is the same as VHS-C except that the resolution is higher at 400 lines (which is 60% higher than VHS or VHS-C). This necessitates the tape being played back by the camcorder or in a S-VHS VCR (using the supplied adapter). These camcorders can both play and record in standard VHS-C as well. However, a regular VHS-C camcorder cannot play recorded SVHS-C tapes.
2. Manufacturers: Primarily JVC
HI8:
1. This format is the same as 8mm except that the resolution is about 60% higher at 400 lines. Once again, there is no adapter to play these tapes in a regular VCR, however, all HI-8 camcorders can play and record in the regular 8mm format. Regular 8mm camcorders connot play recorded HI8 tapes.
2. Manufacturers are Canon, Sony, Sharp, Samsung, Hitachi.
Proceed to Page 2 - Digital Camcorder Formats
