Can Hi8 tapes work on different brands?
Sorry if the title is worded poorly, but I'm facing a problem involving Hi8 cameras. I've bought two Sony Handycams (one of which I have returned to the seller and I plan to with the other one), both of which are faulty. The screen on the first one (an older model) doesn't seem to work whatsoever and is nearly impossible to use (it's completely black). The other one which is a TRV218E worked for a while (in which I got some footage on it), but soon enough both the LCD screen and the viewfinder on that one stopped working too (despite the battery being fully charged), showing a plain black screen with absolutely nothing visible (and before you ask, yes I had the lens cap off). Every now and then the screen will turn on fine, but after less than 30 seconds it will start glitching out and turn off. Upon doing research, despite not being the exact problem I faced, I discovered that most Sony handycams (video 8 ones) can be pretty poor in quality.I've decided to return the other camcorder and purchase one of a different brand (canon, jvc, samsung etc.), however I'd like to know if the sony tape I recorded the footage on will work on a camera of a different brand, or if I'd have to purchase another sony handycam (which at this point I'm really not willing to do seeing as neither have worked).
I know it might seem a little unreasonable to come to the conclusion that all sony video 8 handycams are "bad", which I'm sure isn't the case, but after seeing all the complaints and forums online I'd rather not take the risk of purchasing yet another faulty camera (though if any of you know recognise the problems of the camcorders that would also be very useful).
Sorry the post is needlessly long, all I really need is the answer to the title. Sony Video 8 handicams are old and as they are tape based could suffer from worn tape transport and dirty heads. So basically not the best choice for secondhand.
See if you can find a SD card based unit and ask to see it working before you buy.
If you want recorded Hi-8 tapes transferred to DVD then look for people with the right sort of kit, maybe a professional outfit. Hi 8 tapes and 8mm tapes will play in any make of Hi8 camcorder or recorder,but this is an old format and getting any in good condition now is difficult. You might have issues playing previously recorded tapes on another camcorder if they were recorded in Long Play as sometimes a different make would use a different format for LP. However this is not going to be an issue if trying to record your own footage, which is what I think you are doing.
The viewfinder & screen in effect turning off sounds more like a hardware fault and getting 2 faulty camcorders is to an extent just unlucky. But as the others have stated the analogue video8 and even Hi8 tape formats are now really old so finding good working equipment is not going to be easy.
The newest (but still old) format that used 8mm tapes was the Sony Digital8 camcorders. Some of these could play back the old analogue video8 & Hi8 tapes and can be useful for those with old tapes wanting to get them onto a PC to edit and create a DVD. But again I doubt this is what you are trying to do, so as already advised I suggest you look for a camcorder that records to memory cards.
Mark.
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