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  You may or may not ever have seen a videotape in the flesh but they look a bit like this (see below image) and you may have caught a glimpse of them in your grandparent’s or relative’s house. Although they are old, those videotapes may contain fantastic home movies or old production projects - you can digitize these onto a USB drive or DVD and make sure the footage lasts for generations to come (and it takes up less space!).  Old video tapes come in several different formats, so make sure before you digitize them to know which format you have. We have included the rough dates that these formats became available so you can scrub up on your pub-quiz knowledge too!    VHS - 1977   Let’s start on one file type that most people will know. VHS (Video Home System) was the most beloved and popular video format of all, the chunky, black, book-sized tape that you would have to lovingly rewind every time it finished for the next person.  VHS was the ruler of the video market, and virtually the

  What can you do with old videos? It’s Grandad's birthday next week and you are stumped as to what to get him… Suddenly a thought comes to mind; Why not give him and your family the gift of fond memories? Along with the legendary family barbeque, you prepare to show a compilation of the family's most treasured videos .  One video in particular is in your mind, it’s an old VHS tape that's been sitting in the loft for decades. It’s perfect – The grandchildren sat around Grandad's big grand piano listening to him play. What a happy memory. You dig up the film to check evrythings in good working order… DISASTER! The tape is ruined, the audio is scratchy, the video is all over the place and static plagues the video. GO URL & LEARN MORE What’s Gone Wrong? Research suggests magnetic tapes (like the treasured VHS tape) will go through a 10 to 20 percent loss of signal and a natural decay over the years, even if they have been stored in a good situation. Over a couple of de

  Super 8 film format has been around for decades. It made its mark on culture in the 1960’s due to being the first reliable and affordable means for home video. It birthed a generation of amateur filmmakers all over the globe and changed the industry for the better. Here are some of the reasons it was such a successful format. GO URL & LEARN MORE What is the Super 8 film? Kodak released the film in 1965, super 8mm film was designed to be an upgrade from the existing 8mm film formats on the market at the time. It provided a more user-friendly filming experience for home videographers . Initially it was only used with a camera which Kodak sold but as its popularity grew, other companies began producing camera models which recorded on the super 8 format. As time went on, other companies started to produce their own versions of super 8 film.   Super 8 was considered the best motion picture format on the market at the time of its release, it proved to dominate the market through the la

  How long is my tape? What’s the format? Like most people, you will likely have a box full of old tapes and films stowed away in your loft or garage somewhere. GO URL & LEARN MORE Perhaps you are even in the process of digitizing them, and for this we applaud you. It's a smart thing to do and will benefit you and your videos. But how are you to know the lengths of the film in that disordered box of the film? Or the size and standard of the film? And crucially, is that at all important in the process of digitisation?  The simple answer is; No. Here at Supaphoto , we offer services to digitize your tapes and films regardless of the length or standards they may be. We offer the whole service for a consistent and affordable price. If you’re still intrigued as to the lengths and standards of the tapes in your collection, then there are several things you can do to determine this…   Tape length vs Playback time A Video tape's length is defined in terms of playback time as oppos