Camcorders: A storage guide

More formats

8mm
For this analog format, you also need the camcorder for playback. Picture quality of models recently tested varied from poor to fair; sound quality, good to very good. Cassettes hold a lot: The most common size, 120-minute, yields 2 hours at SP and 4 hours at LP and costs about US$3.50. Canon, Sharp, and Sony make models in this format. Price range: US$250 to US$500.

Hi8
This premium "high-band" variant of 8mm promises a sharper picture. (The top analog model in our most recent test uses this format.) For full benefits, you must use Hi8 tape and watch on a TV set that has an S-video input. Brands include Sharp and Sony. Price range: US$400 to US$800.

VHS-C
VHS-C uses an adapter to play in any VHS VCR. Cassettes most commonly hold 30 minutes on SP. JVC and Panasonic are among companies that make models in this format. Price range: US$300 to US$800.

Super VHS-C (S-VHS-C)
The high-band variation on VHS-C. (The similar S-VHS/ET-C subformat can use standard VHS-C tapes.) One tape yields 40 minutes at SP recording speed. Only JVC offers models of this format. Price range: US$500 to US$800.

Note: In addition to the formats discussed above, there are camcorders that uses 8cm DVD-Rs for recording. Sony has also released a digital video recording format called the MicroMV for its palm-sized network camcorder.