VHS tapes, Films and Cinema related.

[Ken Finch]

Just wondering if any members collect films etc on VHS. As part of my downsizing campaign, I am gradually disposing of Films and cinema related tapes that I have collected over the years. Some are commercial films, others are films or cinema related stuff recorded off tv or can be re used. Also some produced by Keith Wilton etc. I also have a Panasonic SVHS Recorder and editing deck which belonged to my defunct amateur film making club. If anyone is interested contact me or they will all end up at a recycling centre. Just remember I have been a “cinemaniac” for nearly 80 years! 😉

[Osi Osgood]

I only have a few, and those are films that STILL Haven't been released on any other format,but that is only two or three VHS.

[Ty Reynolds]

Message sent

[Paul Adsett]

A really great Movie on VHS, that has never seen the light of day on DVD in the USA is Sun Valley Serenade. Starring Sonja Henne, John Payne, and the wonderful Glen Miller Orchestra.

[Kilian Henin]

Nothing beats film, but VHS is still indispensable for me (both PAL and NTSC formats). I have at least 30 movies that are only available on VHS.

Some examples:

My Way 2 (1977) - on Japanese VHS (English Audio with Japanese subs)
Heavy Thunder (1978) - PAL VHS from the UK.
Jobman (1989) - PAL VHS from Argentina (English audio with Spanish subs)
The Stick (1988) - on Japanese VHS **one of the best war movies I've ever seen**

Also, some DVDs are just transfers from VHS and I find they look terrible. To me, the original VHS usually looks way better (on a CRT TV of course).

[Ken Finch]

Paul, I have Sun Valley Serenade on dvd in my collection. It is a region 2 disc released by fox studio classics u k. Like many in my collection, it was a cheap Charity Shop purchase as were some of my vhs purchases. All my films on vhs are screened via the video projector as are the DVDs. Minimum picture width about 5ft. Image quality is as good as good if not better than on the old 20inch 625 line tv. I have also transferred a number of non commercial vhs tapes to dvd. Image quality as good if not better than original. I think much depends on the quality of the equipment used. Also, as with cine projectors, basic maintenance and cleanliness. Thanks to all who have responded with P Ms. I will get back to you all as soon as I can.

[Osi Osgood]

I am still holding onto a commercial beta tape of "The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams", in the hopes of getting that transferred and digitally cleaned up, as I have always heard and sometimes seen, that Beta was in fact better than VHS. I still hold out hope for an early laserdisc copy of that same film, however, but to this day, have never had it verified that it exists on Laserdisc.

[Brian Fretwell]

Some said beta was better than VHS, others that it had better machine to machine compatibility as there were less manufacturers so that tapes made on one machine played back better on other machines than with VHS.

[Ken Finch]

I may be wrong, but I think it was Sony who produced the Beta system but am unaware of any other manufacturers who made them whereas vhs recorders were produced by a number of companies. Personally, I have always had Panasonics so have never had any compatibility problems. I used to be guided by the test reports in the “What hi fi” magazine, particularly the “budget” models. Beta was always considered better image quality than vhs but the machines were more expensive than the vhs ones.

[Ty Reynolds]

Sony was stingy with licensing Betamax to other manufacturers, but there were machines made by Zenith and Toshiba. There may have been others. There were also Betamax machines under the Sears store brand. That stinginess was a likely contributing factor in the demise of the format.

[Brian Fretwell]

Sanyo produced Beta format machines under the name Betacord I had a couple.