FILM SIZES

Regular 8mm Film

History
     In 1932 the Eastman Kodak company introduced "Cine Kodak Eight" or regular 8 movie film also known as Double 8 and Standard 8. Made mainly for the amateur and home movie makers. The idea behind the format was to make home movie making cheaper an easier for the common man. It was a special 16mm film known as double 8, that was ran through the camera twice, first one way then the other. It was then slit lengthwise in the lab and spliced together to produce 50 feet of finished film. Regular 8 film was a huge success and by the mid 1950s was quite common. Regular 8 was usually exposed at 18 frames per second, most regular eight film is silent with a few exceptions and when an external recording device was used. The use of Regular 8 film began to decline in the late 1960's due to the advent on the Super8 format.

 

Super8 Film

History
     Super8 film research was commenced by Eastman Kodak in the early 1960s. Kodak scientists sought to simplify the film making process by eliminating the need to flip the double 8 film loads required by the Regular 8 mm film cameras. They also eliminated the need to thread the film, by using a cartridge loading system. The sprocket holes were made smaller. This allowed the frame area to be increased by 50% providing a better image. Super8 also made sound recording possible for the amateur.
     The new Super8 film format was released in 1965, and was an immediate success. Super8 was tremendously popular with amateur and serious film makers until the mid 1980s when video tape began to replace the film for home movies. Super8 film is still used today by film students and other hobbyists.

 

AT THIS TIME LEANING BANANA DOES NOT OFFER
TRANSFER SERVICE FOR 16mm FILM
(This representation is meant to help illustrate the difference in size formats of film)

16mm Film

History
     16mm began as a medium for home movies in 1923 after Eastman Kodak spent many years working on a system of movie equipment and film that would be easy enough for the advanced amateur photographer to use, yet reasonably affordable. This effort resulted in the advent of the Sixteen Millimeter "Cine Kodak" Camera and the "Kodascope Projector". 16 mm film was the format of choice for amateurs with means until the advent of the "Kodak Cine 8" in 1932.

 

  
History
     VHS is the world's most widely used system for recording and viewing videotapes at home. There are over six hundred million VHS recorders in use world wide. VHS technology was developed by Matsushita (Panasonic/JVC) in Japan in the mid nineteen seventies and is still the most popular home system worldwide. Most transfer jobs include VHS copies, it is however a poor choice to use as the original copy as it are the lowest quality format.

Tech Stuff
     VHS video tapes carry the same signal that an average home tv set can show (240 lines of video). The original VHS looks good on television but copies made from the VHS original degrade from generation to generation.
      It is best to use one of the new digital formats for a master copy such as MiniDV or Digital8 which carry a signal of 525 lines, and at a higher bandwidth, so color and detail are improved, Our system is digital from end to end to fully exploit these new digital video tape formats. You can then get VHS copies that are as good as VHS originals would be, even if you do not have a digital camcorder or player.

 

SVHS Video Tape Format

History
     SVHS or Super VHS is A VHS format, introduced by JVC in 1986, that enables recording and playback of very high resolution video. The format uses a 4 pin din cable to carry the separated signals, chrominance and luminance, versus the composite type that combines the signal over one wire, thus avoiding the color encoding process and its inevitable loss of picture quality. SVHS requires special equipment to play

Tech Stuff
     SVHS video tapes carry 400 lines of horizontal resolution. Super VHS was originally designed for the prosumer who needed to edit from their original tapes without the quality loss associated with VHS. SVHS makes a good master because dupes from them look as good as a VHS original, however they do require special equipment to view, and they are analog, so some signal loss is inevitable in the dubbing process.

 

Hi-8 Video Tape Format

History
     Hi8 was introduced in 1989 by Sony and are very similar in quality to SVHS. The format was adopted by many news agencies since the signal was near broadcast quality, and the camcorders were relatively inexpensive. Most of the news footage from the Gulf war was recorded on Hi8 camcorders. The format uses a 4 pin din cable to carry the separated signals, chrominance and luminance, versus the composite type that combines the signal over one wire, thus avoiding the color encoding process and its inevitable loss of picture quality. Hi8 requires special equipment to play

Tech Stuff
     Hi8 video tapes record their signal at about 400 lines of horizontal resolution, slightly less than Mini DV, but substantially higher than 8mm or regular VHS formats. Most often, Slight quality loss is suffered when copying or editing from HI-8, but a better than average image is maintained. Hi8 makes a good master because dupes from them look as good as a VHS original, however they do require special equipment to view, and they are analog, so some signal loss is inevitable in the dubbing process.

 

MiniDV Video Tape Format

History
     The MiniDV was the first introduced in 1998. It allows you to record 1 hour of video on a cassette about the size of a box of tic-tacs

Tech Stuff
     Mini DV tapes are the smallest of the video formats. They take and maintain crystal clear images because of the nature of a digital format. MiniDV tapes record their signal at 525 lines of horizontal resolution, substantially higher than 8mm or regular VHS formats, and due to their higher band width greater color fidelity and detail is possible. The video signal is recorded as DV video which is the same as Digital8. Due to the digital nature of the recording, no signal loss will result from dubbing, so they make an excellent master copy. All MiniDV camcorders have a firewire (also known as i-link and IEEE 1394), allowing easy downloading of the video to a modern computer with a firewire port for editing.

 

AT THIS TIME LEANING BANANA DOES NOT OFFER
TRANSFER SERVICE FOR THE FOLLOWING VIDEO TAPE FORMATS
(This representation is meant to help illustrate the difference in size formats of video tapes)

 

Video 8     

History
     Video 8, or 8mm Video was introduced by Sony in the late 1980s, Video 8 is similar to VHS in quality and resolution. The Video 8's small cassette size made it an instant success in the camcorder market quickly replacing bulky VHS camcorders.

Tech Stuff
     Video 8 tapes carry 240 lines of horizontal resolution, and are only marginally better then VHS and likewise not a good candidate for your transfer originals.

 

Digital8 Video Tape Format

History
     The Digital8 format is far superior to Hi8 or Video8. Sony was the first to introduce this format in 1999. It is backwardly compatible, meaning that the new Digital8 camcorders and VCR's will also play 8MM and Hi8 tapes. A Hi8 tape will record up to 60 minutes of digital video and audio. Because of the design, using regular 8mm tapes is not a problem, but it uses twice as much tape. A 2 hour Hi8 or Video8 tape will record 60 minutes when done in the Digital mode.

Tech Stuff
     Digital8 tapes record their signal at 525 lines of horizontal resolution, substantially higher than 8mm or regular VHS formats, and due to their higher band width greater color fidelity and detail is possible. The video signal is recorded as DV video which is the same as MiniDV. Due to the digital nature of the recording, no signal loss will result from dubbing, so they make an excellent master copy. All Digital8 camcorders have a firewire (also known as i-link and IEEE 1394, but firewire is the name given by its creator), allowing easy downloading of the video to a modern computer with a firewire port for editing.