8mm Cassette Tapes?

[Lincoln Thorn]

Greetings friends!

I was poking around eBay recently like one does when I came across a 8mm movie Cassette tape of John Carpenters classic THE FOG.

I had never seen the format like this and was hoping some of you kind folks would be willing to give me a history lesson on what exactly it was!

[Nantawat Kittiwarakul]

Video8 cassette maybe?

That's an extremely rare format, but it did exist back then.

[Tom Dennis]

What we have here is a video 8 cassette and is part of the video format wars SONY v vhs.
To set the scene as this is purely video, home movies film demise was the video camcorder.Enter SONY with video 8 against opposition vhs/c.
As the 8mm tape format gained ground Sony began to introduce products to expand [and enhance] the 8mm format, so that it could become part of home entertainment.
As Sony owned a Hollywood studio, back catalogue etc, part of this stratagy was to release films on this format via camcorder dealers, who were encouraged to stock and sell these films alongside a camcorder sale.
If all this sounds of there ain`t nothing new this was a ploy used when selling cine equipment.
However the numbers and content of the 8mm film was poor and the product faded away.

[Maurice Leakey]

I once had a video camera that used 8mm tape.
Here is a video about the Sony 8mm video cassette player.
Sony 8mm Video Cassette Player EV-S550- 8mm Video Tape Player Specs and Features - YouTube

[James Dennis]

Yes 8mm logo in top corner shows it as video8, Sony did do portable as well as home video players but main reason for 8mm video was as Tom says to take on the VHS in the camcorder sales war, one way they did this was to allow anybody that wanted to sell the system free access with no royalties to pay for using it, you could also use it as a digital multitrack audio system like a digital 8 track

[David Strelitz]

What we have here is a video 8 cassette and is part of the video format wars SONY v vhs.
To set the scene as this is purely video, home movies film demise was the video camcorder.Enter SONY with video 8 against opposition vhs/c.
As the 8mm tape format gained ground Sony began to introduce products to expand [and enhance] the 8mm format, so that it could become part of home entertainment.
As Sony owned a Hollywood studio, back catalogue etc, part of this stratagy was to release films on this format via camcorder dealers, who were encouraged to stock and sell these films alongside a camcorder sale.
If all this sounds of there ain`t nothing new this was a ploy used when selling cine equipment.
However the numbers and content of the 8mm film was poor and the product faded away.

I would add that in addition Sony introduced a Video Walkman 100% portable with a 5" LCD screen, initially in Video8 / Hi 8 and then later as Digital 8 which used the same 8mm cassette shell and could playback the earlier generation V8 cassettes. With its 1394 Firewire it could output the older analogue 8mm tapes as a digital stream.

The demise of cine was also due to video camcorders allowing instant playback - no processing as well as on almost every street corner (not quite) was a Video Rental Shop and as the TV Rental shops were predominantly owned by Thorn who were in bed with JVC who only rented VHS, Betamax lost out in the home market and Sony pushed hard with the V8 camcorder. Feature films on V8 RARE for sure.

[Osi Osgood]

Just curious, what was the screen resolution for these 8mm? Compatible with VHS, or better, or worse?

[Douglas Meltzer]

The resolution of Video8 was the same as VHS, 240 lines. Hi8 was 400 lines, just like Super VHS. Digi8 was 520 lines. The compact size of the cameras & cassettes were very useful. Back in the day I was doing a piece for broadcast TV involving riding a roller coaster, so I gaffer taped a Hi8 camera to my hand to make sure the camera wouldn't go flying off!

I have moved this topic to General Yak since it doesn't concern film.

[Brian Fretwell]

I believe Keith Wilton used Hi8 cameras for his series of videos on Home Odeons. When he went to re-edit them for extended versions he had tro9uble with tape deterioration.

[Maurice Leakey]

This is the same camera which I still have. I often used its still function on playback and coupled to my printer I could get perfect photos for my album.
I bought it new, and it's still in its original box. I can't remember when it was last used.
NB This is not my sales listing.
Sony Handycam DCR-PC110E PAL MiniDV Camcorder – Retro Camera Shop

[Ken Finch]

My first video camera was Sony 200E which ran Sony 8 cassettes. I also, until recently had a Sony8 vcr which I used to transfer my Sony 8 home movies to Dvd. The vcr also contained a tuner to enable tv programmes to be recorded. Incidentally, Maurice, the camera you have shown uses Mini dv cassettes not Sony 8. I have later version of this which had Zeiss lens. Unfortunately they are prone to mechanical faults over a period of time. A pity really because the image quality was really good. The trouble with video formats is that the change so rapidly. Ken Finch.

[Osi Osgood]

Your. Right, Ken. I have a lot of mini DV cassettes, and I am having a Dickens of a time finding a camera or a player, so I can switch them to HD files!

[Maurice Leakey]

My apologies, Ken, I got a trifle confused.
The camera which I mentioned is still with me.
My 8mm camera was purchased in 1996 and was sold a long time ago.
TDK 8mm P5-90HS Hi8 Casette Tape - 1 x 90 minutes – Retro Camera Shop

[Ken Finch]

No need to apologise Maurice, at our age we do get a bit confused at times! I often forget names of places and people. Half an hour later I will remember them!! Mini dv is now obsolete, being replaced by hdsc cards and shdsc cards of 4k resolution! Ken Finch.

[Brian Fretwell]

OK a bit pedantic but HDSC and SHDSC cards do not have any resolution they just have data storage measured in Gigabytes, what you use that for is up to you. They could store pictures of 8 of 16k as well.