Consumer Video:  Camcorders - VHS, VHS-C, S-VHS, S-VHS-C

VHS Video Camcorder

 VHS : VHS-C : S-VHS-C  

Compatibility
The big advantage of VHS and VHS-C camcorders is compatibility. The tapes play in any standard VCR; you don't need to use the camcorder for playback. In the case of VHS-C, however, you will need to use a special adaptor. This is a full-size VHS cassette with a door into which you insert the smaller VHS-C cassette.

Formats and sizes
The first thing to decide is whether you want full-size VHS or the smaller Compact VHS (VHS-C). The latter is slightly bigger than the competing 8mm/Hi8 formats. The big advantage of full-size VHS is that the tapes will play back on just about every VHS VCR. The biggest disadvantage, for most people, is size. These big camcorders are the last thing you'd want to lug around on a vacation.

Still, there are times when a full-size VHS camcorder makes more sense, such as when it will be used by a number of people — in a school's or an office's A/V department, for instance. The VHS format saves time and camcorder wear and tear by eliminating the need to copy recordings over to VHS (as you would have to do with 8mm and MiniDV). The same is true for legal depositions, real estate and other professional applications — the tape can simply be handed over to a client without copying.

VHS-C (compact) For the vast majority of casual camcorder users who want to capture travel, vacations and family, full-size VHS is just too cumbersome. That's where VHS-C comes in. VHS-C tapes require the aforementioned adapter for VCR playback, but it is easily stored in the living room. What's more, additional adapters cost only about $15 to $25. You can buy an adapter for family members so they can watch the original tapes. Of course, the original might get mangled after repeated viewing, or it might be lost in transit. Besides format size, you might also consider paying extra for the higher-resolution Super VHS format. S-VHS and S-VHS-C (the compact version) have more horizontal detail (up to 400 lines) than regular VHS and VHS-C (which have 240 lines). The main disadvantage of these S-VHS formats is that the cassettes are not compatible with standard VCRs (the blanks are also more expensive). You need an S-VHS VCR, or the camcorder itself, for playback. Fortunately, all S-VHS equipment records in regular VHS, too.

Sound

With VHS and VHS-C, you must also pay a premium for hi-fi stereo sound. Unless this feature is specifically mentioned on the camcorder's case, you can assume that it records audio using a slender linear track at the edge of the tape, which has limited frequency response and dynamic range (especially at the SLP speed, where it sounds truly horrible). The hi-fi stereo camcorders simultaneously record the linear track, too, making the tapes fully compatible with non-hi-fi VCRs.

Flying erase head

Many VHS-C and VHS camcorders, and practically all S-VHS-C and S-VHS models, include a flying erase head. This facilitates smooth video insert edits, in which you replace the picture while retaining the original sound. It's great for making low-budget music videos — you can just match pictures to the song. Learning how to use this feature may require careful study of the instruction manual.

Random assemble edit
Many JVC models include a built-in edit controller called random assemble edit. It lets you copy several scenes onto another tape, and it also remotely controls your VCR.

Override controls
As with all camcorder formats, you'll pay a premium for manual override controls (to adjust exposure, white balance color setting and high/slow-speed shutters), as well as for microphone and headphone jacks. Most camcorders come with some form of manual focus, but only the more expensive Super VHS models have a ring around the lens, which is the best way to control the manual focus. The cheaper models run on full automatic.

Zooms
Look for a lens with a long optical zoom range. Ignore exaggerated claims for digital zooms. You'll never really use this feature because the resultant picture looks like garbage. At most, digital zoom should be used for roughly double or triple the optical zoom ratio. Let's say, for example, that you have a 22x lens. The most digital zoom you'd need would be 44x or 66x.

Connectivity
Connections on a VHS-C camcorder range from simple to nonexistent. The whole idea of this format is to make things easy. Accordingly, rather than hooking up the actual camcorder to a TV or VCR for playback, you simply pop the tape into the supplied VHS adapter and place it into your VCR. Obviously, you'll also need a VCR to make this work, but then most people already do. If you don't have a VCR, think twice before buying a VHS-C camcorder, because not all models have input/output connections for playback. Those that do will have standard composite video and audio jacks (RCA-type) for connection to a VCR or TV.

Blank media
VHS-C tapes come in lengths of 20 to 40 minutes, though most commercially available cassettes are either 30 or 40 minutes. A decent 30-minute tape can cost less than $3 on the street; a premium tape, which is more durable and will occasionally offer better picture quality, costs $5. You can get 60 minutes or more from 8mm or DV cassettes, and although this means that VHS-C owners tend to buy more blanks, they don't necessarily spend more money on them.

VHS adapter tip
Some words of caution: the VHS adapter is relatively fragile. Further, the VHS-C tapes themselves often are delicate. There's a little plastic wheel on most VHS-C cassettes for taking up any slack in the tape before you insert it into the adapter. Make sure you use this wheel. Otherwise, there's a chance that your tape will get wrinkled or even mangled in the adapter.

Investing
VHS-C (and the few remaining full-size VHS models) are among the most inexpensive camcorders you can buy. As noted earlier, the idea behind this format is to make camcording cheap and easy. The theory works most of the time, but you may end up spending more on blank tapes than do owners of the 8mm and DV cams.


Recording speed
The original standard-length VHS-C cassettes can record for 20 minutes at the SP speed. Practically all VHS-C camcorders (but not full-size VHS models) can record at the slower SLP speed (also known as EP), which triples the recording time to one hour for a standard tape. Thinner tape formulations provide 30 to 40 minutes of recording time at SP (or triple that at the lower-quality SLP speed). If, however, you want the best possible recording quality, stick with 20-minute tapes at SP speed. These thicker tapes are also less likely to get mangled.


Taping a steady image

Most VHS and VHS-C camcorders come with a digital image stabilizer (DIS) system. Many DIS systems sacrifice a bit of picture detail. To determine if your DIS is reducing detail, try switching DIS on and off. If the image appears to suddenly zoom in a bit when DIS is on, and zoom out slightly when it's off, then the DIS does reduce your resolution. Accordingly, you should use it sparingly. On the other hand, if you see no zoom in/zoom out, then it may be okay to leave DIS on all the time — with the proviso that leaving the feature engaged will drain your battery power more rapidly.

Zoom: blessing or curse?
The zoom control can be both a blessing and a curse. The blessing is that a competent user can get wide, medium and close-up shots from a single vantage point without moving the camera. The curse is that in the hands of an inexperienced user, none of those shots are ever seen — at least not for more than a second or two. Instead, the amateur user keeps zooming the lens, going back and forth incessantly and never settling on what filmmakers call a shot.

The best uses of zooms are subtle ones — tighten ever so slightly on someone's face as they speak, for instance. (When shopping for a camcorder, look for models with very slow zoom speeds. Most models nowadays have variable speed, but the slowest setting ranges from 8 to 20 seconds for a full sweep of the optical range).

Viewing systems
Most of today's VHS-C camcorders have dual viewing systems: a regular viewfinder and a viewscreen. The color viewscreen (typically around 3") is fun to use, plus it lets you see yourself while shooting (also known as "self record"). Kids love to see themselves on the screen. What's more, the big screens make it easy to hold the camcorder low to get a child's-eye perspective, or, for that matter, overhead to see beyond a crowd.

But these viewscreens can appear totally washed out in bright, outdoor light. This is why the dual-viewing design is so popular — the traditional viewfinder serves as a backup. You may also find there are times when you prefer to use the viewfinder for privacy reasons — if, for instance, you don't want onlookers to see what you're taping.

Editing
Most people never get around to editing their tapes later. As such, on-the-spot in-camera editing is the quickest and easiest way to create tapes that are at least halfway interesting enough to share with your family and friends. Some of the more advanced VHS and Super-VHS models (those with flying erase heads) offer quite a few in-camera editing tricks, including video insert editing and audio dubbing. You may, however, still find it difficult and sometimes impossible to do the most obvious thing — putting new material in the place of previously recorded material without creating a glitch at the end of the edit. (Tip: Look for an "A/V insert edit" feature in your owner's manual.)

Audio dubbing is widely available in VHS (and many VHS-C) models. It works only with the linear (monaural) audio track and is especially useful on hi-fi stereo camcorder models because it allows you to add a new track while retaining the original audio on the hi-fi tracks. You can thus mix music or narration in with the original sound, though you'll need a special "mix" mode to hear both tracks together.

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