Digital8 (D8) System

<p>I'm still using a Sony Digital Handycam TRV840, which records on Digital8 (or Hi8 analogue) video cassettes. It keeps chugging along without fail these 12-13 years. I burn DVDs in a DVD recorder and thus reuse the D8 video cassettes. The system suits me well and it's digital quality video. I'm curious if anyone else out there has stuck with this "dinosaur" format.</p>

<p>I skipped from SVHS to MiniDV, so I never used Digital8. But I do still use my MiniDV some and it's still perfectly fine. I think SD is adequate for YouTube and other online video -- HD is really overkill for most of what most people do.<br /><br />I would advise against reusing tapes. If you're burning playable DVDs (as opposed to data disc DVDs) the DVD is throwing away most of the data as it compresses the files. Kind of like saving the jpg's and throwing away the RAW files. Also, even though the tape is digital, any tape can develop dropouts after it's run through a camera/recorder too many times.</p>

<p>There shouldn't be a problem re-using cassettes as long as you stick to one simple but not entirely practical rule. Always rewind the tape before ejecting.</p>