Guide to Camera Formats

Before we start this let me just say that any camera is better than no camera. Checking out camera magazines you can easily catch some equipment fetish, where you only wanna shoot with the coolest equipment. Its a waste of your time (and money) and gets in the way of making movies so forget it.

Its what's on the film/video that's important. You never know, that grainy, crappy image you get might be just what your film needs to give it some energy.

OK camera formats really means tape formats. The gubbins up front - the lens, the buttons etc. don't vary much from camera to camera, but what the camera records onto alters what film you see at the end of the day.

So lets look at the pros and cons of each of the formats (oh yeah, and the price range is the recommended retail price, if you buy mail orders you will probably get it cheaper, and obviously the camera is going to cost less if you buy second-hand).

8mm
Price Range £350 - £500

Pros

* Reasonable picture quality
* Good sound quality (mono or stereo depending on model)
* Compact tapes (about the size of an audio cassette) giving 60 - 90 minutes recording
* Cheapest camcorders available
* Popular format so lots of choice
* Lightweight cameras


Cons
* Can't be played on normal VCR - Although you can transfer to other formats for editing
* Very few 8mm editing VCRs

Hi8

Price Range - £450 - £800

Pros

* Good picture quality (near broadcast standard - 400 horizontal lines, your TV does 525)
* Top notch stereo sound
* Tape a bit more expensive than 8mm but still compact and you can record up to 90 minutes on standard play.
* Can use 8mm tape as well (although the picture won't be as good as with proper Hi8 tape).
* Lightweight cameras

Cons

* Like 8mm it can't be played on normal VCR - Although you can transfer to other formats for editing
* To retain picture quality you will really need a Hi8 editing deck
* Costs more than 8mm - boo!

VHS

Price Range £850 - £1400 RRP.

Pros

* Same tape as you put in your normal VCR, so its cheap, easily available and you can edit easier.
* Because the tape is bigger than 8mm, the cameras are also bigger. This means you look like a proper film-maker and you can shove it on your shoulder which means more stable shots.
* Picture quality about 8mm standard - which means its not that bad.
* Long recording time (3 to 4 hours)
* Extra Punk Points! Robert Rodriguez (Director of Desperado and From Dusk Till Dawn) cut his teeth on a VHS camcorder. Using his camera and the family VCR he edited his first short films.

Cons

* Only has a mono soundtrack
* Bulkier cameras also mean lugging around something which is heavier - nurg!
* Very few cameras available.

VHS - C (like VHS only smaller, so I guess the C is for compact)

Price Range - £280 - £500

Pros

* Essentially VHS-C is smaller VHS tapes, meaning the tapes are more compact.
* Like VHS picture quality about 8mm standard - which means its not that bad.
* Compact, lightweight cameras.
* All the advantages of VHS as far as editing goes as you use an adapter (which looks like a VHS tape) that allows your VCR to play VHS-C tapes like normal videotapes.
* Cheap cameras!!

Cons

* Only has a mono soundtrack
* Because of the decrease in size the tapes are shorter (30 - 45 mins).

S-VHS
Price Range £900

Pros

* Excellent picture quality
* Stereo soundtrack
* Can also record onto VHS tapes (although the quality isn't as good as using proper VHS tapes) or S-VHS-C tapes with an adaptor.
* S-VHS VCRs are top notch - a wide choice with excellent control over editing of sound and pictures.

Cons

* Despite being the same size as VHS tape, tapes can only be played back on S-VHS VCRs.
* Expensive.
* Bulky machines - although this isn't necessarily that bad it makes for steadier shots
* Few cameras to choose from.

S-VHS-C (another compact format - like S-VHS only smaller)
Price Range £370 - £450

Pros

* Like S-VHS excellent picture quality (near broadcast standard)
* Stereo soundtrack
* S-VHS VCRs are top notch - a wide choice with excellent control over editing of sound and pictures.
* Compact little cameras

Cons

* Because of the decrease in size the tapes are shorter (30 - 45 mins).
* Needs a S-VHS VCR to playback tapes.
* Not cheap.

Mini DV
Price Range £700 - £2700

Pros

* Offers bloody good pictures - high on TV quality (500 line horizontal resolution)
* CD quality sound
* Designers are experimenting with design of cameras so they are some nice machines out there eg. JVC's metal fag packet and Panasonic's Tube Cam (not the official names)
* No loss of picture quality in editing provided it is all edited on DVC VCRs or non-linearly using a Firewire card.
* The price is coming down.

Cons

* Err...buy one of these and have to be nice to your bank manager for a long time.
* Editing VCRs are available, but damn expensive.

Digital8
Price Range £??? - £???

Pros

* DV quality pictures using compression ie. 500 lines resolution
* CD quality sound
* Uses cheap 8mm and Hi8 tape
* Can play back old 8mm and Hi8 tapes
* No loss of picture quality in editing provided it is edited via Firewire.

Cons

* It's a Sony technology so you have to buy a Sony camera

Super8
Price Range £5 - £2000

Pros

* Its film, so everything looks nicer and more, err...filmy. Y'know like home movies and pop videos.
* On the whole they are well built - ie. metal etc.
* Inexpensive - because everyone's Uncle Bob had one of these you might find someone in the family with one, or as everyone else is getting rid of their you can pick them up cheap in second hand shops - I got 3 for a tenner the other day.
* You can also pick up editing equipment cheap as well.
* Full on retro style.
* I saw a film shot on Super8 the other day and frankly you couldn't tell the difference between that and 16mm.

Cons

* At the moment it costs about £12 for 4 minutes of film (including developing). This makes it pretty expensive to lark around with if you don't know what you're shooting.
* Don't expect to find autofocus or any to other 'latest features' type stuff on them. Almost everything is manual - but this is no bad thing, at least you learn.

Source: A Rough Guide to Camera Formats