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The 8mm Video Format Wiki

Last updated on January 23rd, 2024 at 02:34 am

8mm Video Camera History 

This 8mm video wiki updated 13.8.2021

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While JVC’s VHS and Sony’s Betamax were fighting it out for the crown of the home videotape market, 8mm video​ cameras burst upon the scene to steal the show from the two formats in the mid-1980s.

The 8mm video format was first endorsed by the 8-mm Video Standardization Conference. A group of 122, (later 127), manufacturers decided on the standard in 1982.

The Conference, among others, decided on the cassette size standard and also how the video signal is to be recorded.

Among others, the Conference approved the creation of a cassette tape 8mm wide, just a little larger than the audio cassette.

This led to the reduction of the drum diameter and the writing speed. The area of tape devoted to each second of a video was reduced.

A solution had to be worked out to compensate for the quality loss.

8mm’s New Tape Technology

The solution was superior tape quality in the form of metal tapes, otherwise known as Metal Powdered (MP) and Metal Evaporated (ME).

The quality of these tapes surpassed that of the normal oxide tapes used with VCR players before the advent of 8mm video.

This new breed of tapes allowed for improvement in the signal-to-noise ratio which means you get less snowy or grainy pictures.

When 8mm video cameras were first introduced in the mid-1980s, they caught the attention of video enthusiasts.

What stood out was the format’s ability to store video through a mini video cassette, about the size of an audio cassette. This was just one-twelfth the unwieldy size of VHS.

Earliest 8mm Video Cameras

You may venture a guess that Sony launched the first 8mm camcorder. It was Kodak with the Kodavision 2000.

Kodavision 2000 - first 8mm camcorder

It was the first venture into the electronics field by the photography giant with the 8mm video system.

Kodak teamed up with Matsushita to manufacture Kodavision 2000. The 8mm tapes were manufactured by TDK Electronics.

The distribution of the 8mm video camera was however undertaken by Eastman and Kodak.

By mid-1984 two Kodavision versions were available to the public.

Model 2400, retailing at $1,899 .was the autofocus version with fade control. Model 2200, retailing at $1,599, was the manual focus version.

Kodavision was first unveiled on January 6, 1984, at the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show.

FUJI’s Fujix-8

Fuji then released a model called Fujix-8 in January 1985, carrying a price tag of around $1250.

Interestingly, the camcorder, which weighed four and a half pounds was built by Sony, which would go on to release its own 8mm camcorder later in that year.

Fujix 8’s Main Features

The standout features of the Fujix 8, 8mm camcorder were an electronic viewfinder and the ability of the camcorder to produce acceptable video quality when shooting in light conditions as low as 20 lux.

Fujix-8 boasted a 510 x 490 pixel CCD, a 2/3inch image sensor chip with an 11.5 – 70mm f/1.4 zoom capability.

The electronic viewfinder allowed the user to check the recordings after shooting and they could also be viewed over television without additional accessories.

Fujix-8 also came with a computer-type editing facility. Users could key in the start and endpoints of a maximum of nine video sequences and copy them in random order to a videotape with a VCR.

What happens here is the editor will run the camera back and forth in the order you have set the sequences to be recorded.

Check out the video below to get a feel of the first 8mm camcorder. The first ten minutes of the video offer you a close look at the video camera before it is opened up for troubleshooting.

Sony’s CCD-V8

The first video camera manufactured by Sony was CCD-V8 in 1985. The image sensor was a 250,000 pixel CCD and it came with 6x motorized zoom.

It weighed 1.97kg and fetched a price of $1175 in Japan.

The CCD-V8 carried three focus settings before another model with auto focus was introduced.

The camcorder could only record video but not play it back. Sony ceased producing the model when it introduced the AF (Auto-Focus) models.

Check out the video below to get up close and personal with the CCD-V8.

Polaroid’s 8mm Video Venture

Polaroid came up with its own version of an 8mm video camera and was excited about the 8mm video popularity growth because of its audio capabilities. The 8mm video cassette could record mono audio, hi-fi FM audio, and, in the future, digital stereo sound.

Polaroid offered four versions of its 8mm video tape, which came packaged in a Black/Blue box:

8mm P6-30MP with a record time of 30 minutes.
8mm P6-60MP with a record time of 60 minutes.
8mm P6-90MP with a record time of 90 minutes.
8mm P6-120MP with a record time of 120 minutes.

TDK’s Optimism

TDK also jumped into the 8mm video fray, optimistic that the format would be the preference of the home video consumer. It expected to capture at least 20% of the market share of the home movie market in the next two years.

Competition from VHS-C.

The VHS camp countered the growing popularity of 8mm video by issuing the VHS-C (compact) format.

This tape is essentially smaller than the VHS format with a standout advantage over the 8mm video format. It can be played back through an adapter tape the size of VHS.

There was no need to buy an expensive new video player to view your video recording on television. You could just pop your VHS-C tape into the VHS adapter tape and hit the play button.

Despite their ease of playback, VHS-C camcorders did not hit their stride in the market.

8mm video continued to dominate the camcorder market. It also managed to ward off competition from DVD camcorders and the Flip video camera.

Sony’s 8mm Video Formats

Although other manufacturers tried to cash in on the 8mm video market, it was Sony that led the market share, by constantly improving the quality of its 8mm video.

While other brands rolled out a few models or an odd model every now and then, Sony maintained constant production of various Video8, Hi-8 and Digital8 models. Digital8 is proprietary to Sony just like MicroMV and DVCAM.

Check out a list of Sony 8mm Camcorder Models with Demo Videos

8mm Analog Camcorders

Video8

The Video8 format has a horizontal resolution of 240 lines, similar to that of the VHS format with FM sound quality.

Later, when Sony introduced the Hi-8 and Digital8 camcorders, they came with the ability to play Video8 tapes.

Hi-8

The Hi-8 was an improvement over the Video 8 format. Its quality was that of S-VHS  and laserdisc with a resolution of 420 lines. In the PAL format, it could record at a resolution of  560 x 480.

The Hi-8 format found favor among journalists in news agencies and low-budget moviemakers.

BBC, Reuters, and CNN journalists found it more convenient to carry a Hi-8 camera to shoot footage compared to the cumbersome Beta broadcast cameras.

Among the full-length movies shot on Hi-8 are Access Denied, The Uninvited, and Outbreak by moviemaker Glenn Kau, now available for viewing on Vimeo.

8mm Video Digital Camera

Digital8

The Digital8 format was Sony’s answer to the mini-DV format. It allowed users to record in a digital format on an analog Video8 or Hi-8 tape.

It also had versatile video capture abilities. What this means is if you have a defective Video 8 camcorder, you could still play your videotape back and capture it for editing through a Digital8 camcorder Firewire port.

 8mm Video Camera Accessories

Here are among the common 8mm video accessories that aided the consumer in videomaking and video playback.

8mm Video Tape

In 1985 Kodak announced the release of an 8mm video tape that could record video for two hours.

The tape which was of the metal particle type was to have its base thickness reduced to 10 microns from its original 13 to extend its recording duration by one-third.

Polaroid announced the release of a metal particle tape which with a recording time of 90 minutes. The tape called MP-90 was to be followed with the 30 and 60-minute versions.

Agfa also announced the offering of a 60 minute 8mm tape in Germany. The m5-60 will be a metal particle tape and the E5-60 will be a metal-evaporated tape.

The was also the AGFA P5-60 8mm video Metal Powder tape.

AGFA P5-60 8mm video Metal Powder tape

Despite these releases, it was Sony’s 8mm videotapes that found favor among camcorder users. Understandably so, as Sony dominated the 8mm camcorder market before mini-DV made its presence felt.

Video Head Cleaning Cassette

If playback from your 8mm video camera is not up to the mark, it could be that the video head is dirty.  Recording quality may also suffer. Experts advise that the camcorder heads be cleaned after 20 hours of recording.

Always use the video head cleaning tape recommended by the manufacturer of your 8mm camcorder.

8mm Video Player-Recorder – 8mm VCR

If for some reason you have a stack of old Video8 and Hi-8 tapes and wish to play them back or digitize them, and don’t have access to a Digital8 camcorder,  you could try getting a Digital8 video player recorder.

These player-recorders come built-in with a Firewire port, which allows you to digitize your old tapes easily by importing them into a computer video editing program.

They are no longer in production, however, but you could find used models at Amazon.

GV-S50 8mm Video Walkman

The GV-S50 8mm video walkman has the capability of recording video and also play it back on its 4-inch LCD screen (with TFT Active Matrix System).

GV_5_50_Sony_Video_Walkman
GVS 50 Sony Video Walkman

You can also connect the video walkman to a camcorder or VCR for editing, not to mention connecting it to your TV for playing back 8mm video.

The video walkman, popular in the mid-1990s, also has tuner capabilities with a 6-event/1-month programmable timer.

On the audio side, there’s the AFM Hi-Fi stereo recording.

Audio output is of Mega Bass sound with deep, powerful bass response.

The walkman also plays back Hi-8 tapes in Video8 quality.

There are also Video8 and Hi-8 tape decks available if you wish to convert 8mm video to digital without a camcorder.

8mm Tape Converter to Digital 

Unless you don’t mind rewinding your tapes and playing them back over your television from your camcorder or 8mm video player time and again, you would want to convert your 8mm video cassettes to digital.

You have two ways to do this. First, you connect your camcorder to your computer via a video capture card and import video into it through a video editing program. The video editing program will usually come bundled with the video capture device.

The second route is if you have a Digital8 camcorder, you could import video into your computer through a Firewire connection –  via a Firewire cable, provided your computer or your laptop has a Firewire port.

Once you’ve edited your footage, you could burn your video to VCD or DVD, or simply export it as a digital video file to be played back on your computer or mobile devices.

8mm Tape Longevity

8mm tapes don’t last forever, just like any other magnetic tape. Over time tapes can deteriorate due to a host of factors.

According to Professor Howard Besser and the team who compiled Video at Risk: Preserving Commercial Video Collections in Libraries, magnetic tape deterioration, and degradation can result from the following:

1) Improper storage conditions (fluctuations in temperature – high temperature – humidity)

2) Cleanliness and quality of the tape

3) Quality of tape manufacturing process

4) Quality of tape duplication process

5) Quality of care and handling of tape

6) Quality of tape carrier case

7) Quality of tape playback conditions – The quality and condition of the playback device (VCR – Camcorder)

End of the Road

8mm video lost its popularity when the mini-DV format made its entry into the camcorder market.

While 8mm video is often associated with Sony, the mini-DV is a universal format that opened up the camcorder market to other manufacturers. The easy availability of mini-DV tapes also encouraged camcorder users to switch from 8mm to mini-DV.

With the advent of DSLR cameras and 4K smartphone video cameras, the 8mm video format could be considered ‘extinct’ but here and there, folks with functioning 8mm camcorders are still shooting and producing videos.

In 2011 Sony announced that it will no longer offer support for its line of 8mm video products.

The last two 8mm video equipment Sony had been manufacturing were The GV-D800, and the GV-D200 video cassette recorders. They were to be discontinued in September 2011.

At the time of the announcement, it was understood that 8mm tapes would continue to be produced until further notice.

More 8mm Video Articles

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What was the First 8mm VCR?

The first 8mm VCR was introduced by Sony in 1987. It was called Page One.

The size was about 1/3 of the size of VHS VCRs at that time. The whole idea was to make a portable VCR that could be easily and conveniently carried around.

How do I play 8mm video tapes?

You can play 8mm tapes through an 8mm camcorder or an 8mm VCR (Video Cassette Recorder).

You can play a Video8 tape with a Video8, Hi-8 and Digital8 camcorder/VCR.

You can play a Hi-8 tape with a Hi-8 or Digital8 camcorder/VCR.

You can only play a Digital8 tape with a Digital8 camcorder/VCR.

How Do I Transfer 8mm Video to Computer?

You have to connect your 8mm camcorder/VCR /player through an A/V or S-Video cable to the A/V or S-Video ports of the video capture device connected to a computer.

On the computer, you would need video capture software or video editing software to capture and save the video footage digitized by the video capture device.

How Can I Watch My 8mm Videos Without the Video Camera?

There’s only one way to watch your 8mm videos without a video camera – through an 8mm VCR deck or 8mm tape player.

This deck or tape player can only play 8mm tapes. You can’t play a VHS tape over it. Similarly, you can’t play an 8mm tape on a VHS VCR. There’s no adapter to play an 8mm tape on a VHS player.

References

Video at Risk: Preserving Commercial Video Collections in Libraries

Free Video Workshop