Question about tapes

stiltman · Hi Ladies Joined: 10 Jul 2003 Location: Unleashed

Currenty, I have a sony HI8 (old I know) and I always used tapes from CC, BB...etc. I would usually get the least expensive HI8s they had. Then I read in one of the threads that you could use any 8mm tape. I found some 8mm (3M D8-112) tapes at a local computer swap for a $0.50 a piece. So far they seem exactly the same, but the camera just doesn't show that they are HI8 in the view finder.

Now for my question. I'm thinking about buying a miniDV cam, so what type of miniDV tapes can I use? I haven't looked at a tape up close but they seem like they are about the same size as a standard 4mm DDS tape, like these I have a bunch of these tapes (DDS3 and DDS4) as that's what my tape backup drive uses. It would be cool if I could use these in a miniDV cam....

Anyone know?
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MrMungus · Member Joined: 18 Dec 2003 Location: Dallas

You sure about that? I think you might have read that you can use any kind of tape in a Digital8 camera, not a Hi-8 camera. I know that's correct about Digital8 but not sure about Hi-8.
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stiltman · Hi Ladies Joined: 10 Jul 2003 Location: Unleashed

sitlet · Member Joined: 21 Oct 2001 Location: Monroe, Mi

hi-8 and 8mm use the same tapes. in your case, with a hi-8 camcorder, it can use hi-8 tapes and record them in hi-8 format, or it can use regular 8mm tapes, and it will record in 8mm format. there is no difference between the two except that hi-8 will produce a little better quality.

the same goes backwards. if you have an 8mm recorder, you can use hi-8 tapes in it, but it will only record in 8mm format.

as for your mini dv question, i am almost certain that the 4mm tapes will not work. you need a minidv cassette.

stiltman · Hi Ladies Joined: 10 Jul 2003 Location: Unleashed

sitlet · Member Joined: 21 Oct 2001 Location: Monroe, Mi

dont worry about the memory chip. i believe only a select few camcorders actually use that chip. and they are the high end studio camcorders. i believe its used for the timecode or to store pics or something like that.

yamato72 · BECNs and FECNs Joined: 31 Jul 2002

stiltman, you WILL be recording in lower res if you continue to use those standard 8mm tapes instead of true Hi8s. Hi8 is noisy enough as it is and standard video8 is a lot noisier, barely better than VHS. I'd keep spending the money on true Hi8 tapes until you upgrade.

BTW the lack of the "Hi8" indicator is your cam telling you that it's recording lower res (somewhere around 250 lines vs close to 400 for Hi8 IIRC).
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proxyx99 · **Banned** Joined: 22 Oct 2003 Location: Americas

Hi8: 420 lines, better color reproduction, CD sound quality
8mm: 230-240 lines