#S-VHS vs. HI-8
7 messages in this thread
Hello,
We're just getting started with DTV to put together sales/marketing
presentations.
Before going out to buy a camcorder to hook up to our Intel Smart Video
Recorder Pro board, we wanted to get some advice.
Should we get an S-VHS-C or a Hi-8 model? (More fundamentally, does it make a
difference for the type of work we'll be doing?)
Thanks in advance for your comments,
– Steve
Steve:
>Should we get an S-VHS-C or a Hi-8 model? (More fundamentally, does it make a
difference for the type of work we'll be doing?)<
Not really–both utilize S-Video, and a good camcorder for either will give you
good results.
OTOH, if you're shooting footage for digitization, there are more good Hi8
camcorders out there than there are good S-VHS-C camcorders, and Hi8 gives you
2 hours of shooting per tape as opposed to S-VHS-C, which gives you 30 minutes
(okay, there are 40 minute tapes available, but the quality ain't that great).
Hope this helps,
Tim Liebe
Tim,
Thanks for the insights. My informal survey of nearby camera/video shops
supports your claim — one sales person claimed S/VHS-C was to camcorders what
Beta is to VCR's… ironic when you consider that the professionals use Betacam
for their work (although I don't think that's the same Beta).
Now I've got some work to do figuring out WHICH Hi-8 unit to get…
Regards,
– Steve
Assuming you'll be editing your footage, if you go with Sony's top
consumer TR-700 you'll have RCTC which makes this process much more
accurate and pleasant. It's the ONLY consumer camcorder (same as
Nikon VN760 and I think Ricoh R-18H) with RCTC. It also has the
highly regarded optical image stabilization. About $1280 from B&H
Photo or Camera World of Oregon.
-jts
John,
Many thanks for your recommendation. I just picked up the latest issue of
Camcorder magazine & found the TR-700…You were off by $3 <g>…
A local sales person also showed me a unit called the VX-3 ($ 4700 Canadian).
He cited the 3 CCD feature as a real improvement over the single CCD of the
other units.
For desktop video using an Intel Smart Video Recorder Pro with compression
enabled, would we notice the difference?
Regards,
– Steve
Yes, the VX-3 is the choice for professional/industrial Hi8 work. Lacks
only image stabilization. I can't say about iSVR … frankly I doubt you'd
notice the difference at this level of resolution (320×240) but for sure at
full screen (640×480) you'd see it. Everyone says so on playback over NTSC
mointor. The TR-700 is more compact but the VX-3 has more of the
professional features you might need.
Sorry I can't be of more help. Maybe a pro will come in here and help out.
-jts
Steve:
>Thanks for the insights. My informal survey of nearby camera/video shops
supports your claim — one sales person claimed S/VHS-C was to camcorders what
Beta is to VCR's…<
Well, not *quite* that bad–though VHS-C & S-VHS-C never caught on like the 8mm
video formats did… (probably has something to do w/only being able to get 30
minutes on a fairly-fragile tape <g>)
>ironic when you consider that the professionals use Betacam for their work
(although I don't think that's the same Beta).<
It isn't, exactly–it uses a *form* of Betamax tape, but runs it through the
machine 5 or 6 times faster to get more information per frame on there.
(Someone once told me you could, in a pinch, use plain Betamax tape in older
Betacam camcorders, but they didn't recommend it since the home use Betamax
tape wasn't designed to whip through the cassettes at the speed Betacam
recorded at.)
Best,
Tim