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-   -   Who still uses VHS for any practical use? (https://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/home-video/9800-vhs-practical.html)

LightWorker01 06-20-2019 11:59 AM

Who still uses VHS for any practical use?
 
I am one of those oddities. I don't take a smartphone out anymore and I love my VHS-C camcorder that we used for years. VHS is long since dead, but can be a fun format to play with.

It is just so simple to use, easy to modify for high battery capacity and I can fit 2 hours onto a 60 minute tape in LP mode though I only use that if I need the extra capacity (for example yesterday we went out and my friend decided to dress me in drag (he is an experienced drag practitioner) that turned into quite a funny night Smartphones already long since dead at the end of the day, and it ended up providing two hours of entertainment that made for an action-packed video. When my friends wanted to see it today, I just whipped it in an adaptor and played it through the telly with no effort, and made a DVD in the process for backup which I will also keep a copy of on my network device. I always go for TDK tapes and keep clean heads, always have done since I was a kid.

Last night was one such time I switched to LP mode. Now it has become the subject of laughs and I will probably never live the night down. This tape should be buried :)

I used to spend hours editing digital video, whereas this the entire event I record as I usually record social/family events is all in chronological order and I do not need perfect visual quality, and the HiFi stereo function is just second to none in audio quality with this camcorder and I can use an external mic. I used to use a DVD camcorder for this TV-Readyness as I could just duplicate disks quickly, but the small discs only held a tiny amount and long playing modes on DVDs just look blocky and awful, I prefer VHS noise over blockyness and also I find my VHS camcorder I had on hand has far better audio performance. There are some good DV cameras that do this as well, but I just use what I had on hand, no point throwing it out or getting rid of it.

What I wanted was the ability to watch a continuous file on the TV quickly and have a nice physical item attached to the memory. VHS and DVDs suit that nicely, as most of my digitally sourced material does end up on DVDs as well.

I can make DVDs with a DVD recorder to give out at the touch of one button, and I can play them in my VCRs out of the camera with no further editing on the living room TV. I like the simplicity of operation and I do keep digital DVDs of the tapes. I spend less time editing on the PC now and more time socalising and shooting, and it is much nicer on my disk space.

I used to use 4K video and the hours spent editing and splicing different segments from the same event/trip/party together on the PC just wasn't for me. I do not do video professionally, but for making memories, and over the years that VHS camcorder documented so much from my childhood to present day. After my mother's death, my family ended up with a lovely box of memories that my sisters and other family members loved, all still in perfect condition and the DVDs looked very good when I had finished. I will note that most of these were recorded in S-VHS ET mode, as I wanted to maintain compatibility with all possible players.

I also love fiddling with older technology. Even if I give a DVD copy out as I do, i didn't spend hours editing/splicing footage together. Obviously this is not professional but fun use, and I spend more time socialising and making memories and less time editing on the PC as I have had a severe internet addiction for a while so have gone through a bit of a digital detox, and I have fun with it. My social group loves the idea of a pile of videos being our memories, and we even make case art for them, its mostly fun.

Better than the camera or blank tapes going into landfill when it serves the purpose of making fun memories and having fun with older formats. I will probably stop when the cameras I have give out and switch to something else, but it seems a shame to get rid of something that just works and still makes memories full of enjoyment. The HiFi stereo ones in particular are very hard to find in working order, even on eBay, and they are much better than the linear track...

P.S Yes I do still break off the write protect tabs, the moment they come out of the camera. I was suprised as a child why no one else did this, I always had to do it for them! I even had to do it on my mother's wedding video when no one else had.

JPMedia 06-21-2019 03:37 PM

Hey the whole reason I became interested in the forum was because I like the aesthetic of real VHS video. I want to make short films in the format, but I thought it would be pointless if I didn't have a proper way to capture the tapes to digital. Many months and many dollars later I got my hands on a reasonably well functioning VHS camcorder and solid capture setup.

Dude111 06-21-2019 04:34 PM

I love analogue so for me VHS is goregous :)


Im glad there is so much talk about VHS on this site..... Whe nI first joined there didnt seem to be,,,,,

Im glad you guys realise how beautiful it is!!!

dpalomaki 06-21-2019 04:54 PM

If you can, give S-VHS a try, a night and day difference.

The biggest single problem with analog tape, especially formats like VHS and (even S-VHS, Hi8 & Video8) was generation loss when editing or copying. The advent of digital capture and editing by and large resolved that issue (if you work with original SP speed tapes and appropriate capture formats), although low light performance, noise levels, and resolution remain an issue when commonly available gear is compared to current HD formats and camcorders.

Playing original tapes is an unwise thing to do. VCRs, especially aged VCRs eat tapes, and like food, once a tape it eaten it turns to feces. (IMHO: It is not if a VCR will eat, it is only a question of when.)

As to editing, for most people the only thing they should do is cuts editing; i.e., omit boring/poor material, and that does not take a lot of horsepower or time. (The difference between an amateur and a professional is the amateur shows you ALL his pictures/footage.)

LightWorker01 06-21-2019 05:40 PM

Some good comments :) S-VHS is awesome and it is night/day difference. I did however stick to Normal VHS for now, though I have looked to do some more S-VHS. My main concern is that there are way more VHS than S-VHS players out in the wild, so much less likely I would be unable to play them, they look like poo when played in SQPB decks.

I do now and again dub sets of 'viewing copies' from the originals to a full-size tape once I have enough of them (say four to five events of me and a certain group of friends/event). I do keep digital copies, too.

The HiFi audio is great. I do love the aesthetic of these formats and the fun factor.

I don't replay originals over and over again though I do the first couple of times it is watched, but the viewing copies generally but it is nice to have something ready to play straight out of camera as we often go over the event, and add it to a playback copy as we go which is then used for future viewings.

I tend to omit the 'boring' stuff from a viewing copy as we are making it/watching it for the first time though we also capture from the original to the PC for backup. But given that I used to shoot and develop a lot of super-8 between the ages of 17 (2011) and 24 (2019) before the price became prohibitive, you learn when to best press, and not press the record button and end up not having too much 'fat' to trim.

But no time spent rendering and fiddling. We do keep all the footage on the original though, as a rule I refuse to write to the original once recorded. Once it comes out of camera, that tab comes off. Some of my circle end up with DVD copies, but it is a great way to record memories <3

Ever since I picked up a VCR for the first time, I had a tape eaten once. Ironically my copy of 'event horizon'. I remember wrapping the crinkled tape round a hot tea mug that kinda helped but it still had dropouts in that area.

I might add, after my mother passed at 49, these recordings became so valuable. I was glad that I had plenty of video/audio recordings on VHS/Cassette. As my group do like physical keepsakes, DVDs are also included in this, but videos make great keepsakes, and a good deck that I can clean and maintain a bit and recap etc are easy enough to find.

Fun times!

lordsmurf 06-21-2019 06:23 PM

I've not recorded to VHS in at least 13 years (dubs for others).
And the last time I used S-VHS was to record election night in 2008 (just over 10 years ago).

I adopted digital video (MPEG-2 recording) in 2001, and by 2003/2004 had stopped using S-VHS entirely.

latreche34 06-22-2019 11:51 PM

I like to have the best equipment to playback old formats but recording new materials on old formats other than bench testing and repair makes no sense to me, the quality is just not there. When an important social event needed to be recorded it better be a 4K camcorder doing it not a flip phone or a VHS-C camcorder. Once the event is gone it is gone forever only what you captured from it is left for future generations to see.

By the way any camcorder modern or ancient can work exactly the way it is intended to work, Shoot and instantly watch no editing required. Newer camcorders didn't loose any features old ones had as a matter fact they just made it easy no tape rewinding and some have wireless viewing capabilities on a TV so no cables needed.

Paradise 06-23-2019 10:10 AM

I still have about 400 VHS tapes still left to convert. And several VHS players! :) I hope we get to a point where recording our own physical media is more easily done. Because I agree, VHS players were awesome! :)

cbehr91 06-23-2019 11:04 AM

I still do only because I'm too lazy to set up a spare computer as an HD PVR, so what little OTA TV I want to record gets recorded to S-VHS. That being said I still have lots of "good" blank VHS tapes I'll never use.

uyrieal01 06-23-2019 03:22 PM

Does anyone know how to remove the blue border when recording a tape and playing it? I have a JVC gr-AX760U compact vhs-c. I bought a vidbox and everything works perfect, but when i record something and then i want to view it, it has a big blue border around the video. please help. i am using a mac air 11'

BarryTheCrab 06-28-2019 04:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by uyrieal01 (Post 62174)
Does anyone know how to remove the blue border ...around the video. please help. i am using a mac air 11'

Your question is really not suited for this thread, you are better off to do a search and/or post your own topic.

16mmJunkie 06-29-2019 03:53 PM

I record on Beta to this day...still have several S-VHS machines got about 6000 tapes on vhs and 240 on Beta from years past. I'm still stuck on my 16mm film as well. But while I still enjoy the formats, I enjoy the "new" too. I started collecting 1/2 and 1 inch playing on U-matic from the television stations I worked for when they tossed it in bin. Transfered most of that stuff and got out of it. Heck moving all that stuff. Played with my Panasonic AG-DVX100 just last weekend Glad this site is here and although I rarely post I READ ALOT. :D

Dude111 10-13-2021 09:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordsmurf
I adopted digital video (MPEG-2 recording) in 2001, and by 2003/2004 had stopped using S-VHS entirely.

Ya I dunno.... To me digital video does not look as nice...... Its flatter and does not look natural.....

I prefer analogue photography muchly more also :)

RobustReviews 10-14-2021 01:31 AM

The only time I've recorded on to videotape since around 2000 was earlier this year when a client needed a certain 'look' for a project.

They needed to ape 1970s footage, whilst Red Giant is fun they needed a genuine aesthetic of tape rather than a pantomime version so we did run about 180s of footage on to high-band UMatic and back again.

That's the only time I can personally think of, other than test tapes etc.

dpalomaki 10-14-2021 08:47 AM

Quote:

To me digital video does not look as nice...... Its flatter and does not look natural.....
An interesting comment. So much depends on the quality of the camera/camcorder, the the display used, the scene particulars, and viewing circumstances. Part of the problem is there is too much of it shot and presented by people who do not know how to use the medium to its best advantage. The technical quality of the digital signal (e.g., bandwidth & signal-to-noise ratio) is such that image warts that would be masked view by the inherent limitations of the old consumer analog formats become apparent and distracting.

And video is an art form, good vs. bad rest in large part in the eye and criteria of the beholder. A shut-out ball game looks great to one team, not so great to the other.

As to flatter, that depends on the camcorder and its settings. Some are designed to provide unnaturally vivid images (typically consumer models), others (usually the high end prosumer and professional models) default to a flatter image to allow for post production grading but offer additional settings.

I first shot VHS in about 1979, moved to Hi8 in about 1990, MiniDV in about 1999, HDV in about 2007 (the last tape format I used for acquisition or editing) and HD in 2011. (I passed on D8 except to have a Walkman type D8 player.) I may move to 4K next year although I've played a bit with 2.7K and 4K with a GoPro. One can always dumb down shot material, but going the other way is not so easy.

That is not to say the analog formats cannot provide some fun to a hobbiest.

Scott5591 10-14-2021 02:49 PM

I still enjoy watching movies on VHS tape purely because of nostalgia, don't get me wrong i love HD streaming but nothing beats the feel of physical media.

Horror VHS collecting is more popular than its ever been right now.

The days when you could visit your local video rental shop and see what new tapes they had are some of the best memories i have as a kid, most of the local newsagents and small grocery shops would also have a rental section.

RobustReviews 10-14-2021 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott5591 (Post 80379)
I still enjoy watching movies on VHS tape purely because of nostalgia, don't get me wrong i love HD streaming but nothing beats the feel of physical media.

Horror VHS collecting is more popular than its ever been right now.

The days when you could visit your local video rental shop and see what new tapes they had are some of the best memories i have as a kid, most of the local newsagents and small grocery shops would also have a rental section.

I'm guessing you're a fellow Brit by using 'newsagent' - a nearby petrol station used to have a DVD rental concession until not ever-so-long ago, 2018ish I guess? A very large and well stocked selection of Goldie Hawn right at eye-level too..... It was a 24 hour petrol station :laugh:

Scott5591 10-14-2021 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobustReviews (Post 80381)
I'm guessing you're a fellow Brit by using 'newsagent' - a nearby petrol station used to have a DVD rental concession until not ever-so-long ago, 2018ish I guess? A very large and well stocked selection of Goldie Hawn right at eye-level too..... It was a 24 hour petrol station :laugh:

Yeah, im from far up north though, horror section was always my favourite. Fortunately my parents were not too strict so would let me watch most stuff:D

Not sure what the american word for a newsagent is:hmm:

We would rent most of our tapes from the local SPAR shop

dpalomaki 10-14-2021 06:43 PM

Quote:

The days when you could visit your local video rental shop..
A sign of the times. In the USA the local ma-and-pa rental shops were replaced by Blockbuster, etc, then NetFlix DVD. Now they are all but gone, and all is in the bands of the media and information oligarchs; Amazon, Disney, Verizon, etc. Perhaps George Orwell was right, just a few decades ahead of his time.


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