Hours & Directions

Author: ddvf

  • Camcorder Tape Adapters

    Camcorder Tape Adapters

    People frequently ask where they can get an adapter for their Video 8 or MiniDV tapes.  We usually say “I’d be a millionaire if I had one of those!”.  They don’t exist, so please stop looking.

    VHS-C did have an adapter that would allow you to put the small tape into your VHS VCR.  That’s because it’s the same size tape inside the VHS-C cassette as a normal VHS tape.

    Video 8 and MiniDV tapes are much narrower than 1/2″ VHS tape.  If you did manage to get the tape into your VCR, it wouldn’t even line up with the heads.

  • Break Out The Tabs

    Break Out The Tabs

    At least once a week we get asked if there’s a way to recover material from a video tape that was recorded over by mistake.  It’s usually the wedding video that the husband taped over with this week’s big game.

    The anwser is “no”.  They’ve been trying to recover the famous 18 1/2 minute gap in the Nixon Watergate tapes for years.  Read more on that here or here.

    The smart thing to do is to break out the tabs on your VHS tapes.  It will keep your VCR from recording on the tape. 

    An even smarter thing to do is transfer those tapes to digital, make a bunch of copies, and put them in different places.

    By the way, audio cassettes also have tabs that can be removed.  Camcorder tapes (VHS-C, Video 8, MiniDV) have tabs that slide back and forth to cover the record prevent hole.  After you remove the tape from your camera, slide the tab to the opposite position.  Also put a label on it so you know what it is 20 years from now.

  • Label Your Tapes and Memory Cards

    Label Your Tapes and Memory Cards

    It’s a fairly simple concept, but not many people take the time to label their tapes (and/or CDs, DVDs, memory cards, slides, films, photographs, etc).

    It only takes a moment and it makes things so much easier down the road when you are trying to figure out what’s on the tape or when it happened. Do it right after you take it out of the camera.

    And just don’t write “Christmas” or “Kids” on the tape. Include the date. Or at least the year. If you want to get fancy, include the location, people involved and even the camera it was shot on.

    You will thank yourself in the future.