If in the 1990s you wanted to film family holidays in better quality with a more compact camcorder, you probably reached for something made by Sony. The Video8 format and its improved successor Hi8 were enormously popular. These small 8mm cassettes often hold the most important moments of a life in surprisingly good quality.
Today, though, there is a problem. The Handycam camcorders have given out, the batteries are dead, and connecting an old analogue camera to a new smart TV is next to impossible. Digitising Hi8 and Video8 tapes is therefore the only way to free these memories from magnetic tape and store them safely. At Záloha vzpomínek these formats are one of our specialities.
What Video8 and Hi8 cassettes are
At first glance the two formats look identical – a small cassette with 8 mm tape:
- Video8: the first generation, from the 1980s. Better sound than VHS, but a standard picture.
- Hi8: the successor, with higher resolution and a sharper picture.
The trouble with these Sony 8mm cassettes is how vulnerable they are. The tape is thin and prone to tangling in the mechanism of an old camcorder. If the camera chews the cassette up, the footage can be lost for good.
A firm warning: do not try to play old 8mm cassettes in a camcorder that has spent 15 years in the attic. A clogged mechanism can tangle or snap the thin tape and the footage is gone for good.
Why transferring Hi8 to a PC at home is so hard
Almost everybody had a VHS player at home, but dedicated decks for 8mm cassettes were rare. Most people played the tapes straight from the camcorder plugged into the television. Today you run into these obstacles:
- Equipment that no longer works: Sony camcorders suffer from failed capacitors and mechanical faults. Repairs are expensive and rarely worth it.
- Incompatibility: modern computers have no analogue inputs to connect a camcorder to.
- Poor USB capture devices: cheap grabbers bought online often cannot keep sound and picture in sync, which leaves the video stuttering.
Leave the Hi8 to PC transfer to us – we have equipment that handles it. The whole process is described in the How it works.
A professional transfer in our studio
Footage from Video8 and Hi8 camcorders is often shaky, because it was shot handheld. That is why the equipment matters so much. For digitising tapes of this type we use Záloha vzpomínek top-end Sony Digital8/Hi8 playback decks with TBC and DNR noise reduction:
- Picture stabilisation: TBC straightens out unsteady lines and delivers a settled picture.
- Clean sound: Video8 often had excellent sound, and we transfer it faithfully and without hum.
- Digitising: the signal passes through a proven Canopus ADVC 300 converter, which ensures the Hi8 transfer is at the highest possible quality.
What rescuing the 8mm formats costs
We make no distinction between Video8, Hi8 and Digital8 – the price is the same and it is fair. Current prices are in our price list and calculator. You pay only for genuine footage; blank sections and static are not charged.
No deposit up front. At Záloha vzpomínek you pay for the digitising only once the work is done and you have checked the result yourself. On top of that we keep a backup copy free of charge for 12 months.
The result: Video8 and Hi8 on USB
Most often we do a tape to USB transfer – it is practical and works everywhere. You get your videos in MP4format, which plays anywhere. Picture the delight when you put Christmas 1998 on the television at a family gathering, in digital quality.
Not sure which format you have at home? No matter. Send us a photo through the contact form or have a look at our frequently asked questions. Záloha vzpomínek handles every common format.