A Comparison of Super 8mm, Hi8, Mini DV and HD all shot in 2019

A comparison film which shows the progression of film formats.

Video Cameras used -

Super 8 Camera used - Kodak Instamatic M4
Hi8 - Sony CCD-TRV228E
Mini DV - Canon MD235
HD - Canon Legria HF R606

[mikeygoda]

I love how each format seems to define the time period!

Super 8 = 1970's
VHS-C = 1980's
Hi8 = 1990's
Mini DV = 2000's
HD 1080p = 2010's
4K = 2020's

[kitchencadetgameplays]

See I love how despite being a digital tape format dv still has a unique look where as hd video is defined only by the sensor

[roteskaeppchen]

mini dv hat the best filmic colours from all these tested cameras

[zenitpro]

There's something so cinematic about the look of 8mm film... okay, it's real film and all, but it is just so cool! What kind of format does this 8mm film come in? Reels or cassettes or whatnot?

[kevinjohansson]

Great comparison. The only issue I have is that the HD footage is filmed 50/60 FPS which makes it look way less cinematic than the older formats.

[Salesman]

Wow, I forgot how much I loved the MiniDV format and that was because that's the main one I used when in college. Sure it was a pain in the ass the transfer over, but boy was it fun experimenting with video production back then. Makes me wish I stuck with it, even as a hobby.

Thanks for the memories!

[milgeekmedia]

I've just dug out my old Sony HandiCam Mini DV for some video glitch effects and title sequences. It's nice to get some point of reference for the textural quality compared to other obsolete formats. Thanks.

[giwagon]

great video! super 8mm & hi8 are the best imo. I'm more into that cinematic, vintage look, rather than the super high quality one we have now. I wish it was easy to just go buy a camcorder, they're so expensive and hard to get nowadays!

[ajmedia]

I think mini dv looks the worse, super 8 is just beautiful as is all film but the hi8 is very vintage too. I've just got hold of a couple of canonvision ex1 hi8 cameras so looking forward to experimenting! Thanks for this great video!

[ricardorodriguez]

Thank you very much, this helped my wife and I find which film to choose from

[targetrender]

Mini DV is great standard def quality. Very accurate color and shadows.

[alanvanallen]

Hi Adrian, this is an interesting video demonstrating the qualities of each recording format, what surprises me is how some commentors are telling you change the look of a particular video to try to improve it by ie.de-interlacing or colour grading etc., or some other process, but to me you have tried to show the different qualities of each recording format of the cameras/recording media.If you improve the footage by de-interlacing, colour grading etc.that would not show in reality what the average Joe Soap would have got from his fairly cheap consumer camcorder
I will have to try this out with my camcorders as I now have a Hi8, Digital8, MiniDV 1ccd, MiniDV 3ccd and Sony HVR Z1 HD and make a comparison video.Hope to do this a little bit later in the year when the weather improves.
Best wishes Alan

[oldradiosnphonographs]

I associate Hi8 with my own personal nostalgia the most because I am a 90s/early 00s kid and my childhood home movies were shot on it, BUT the last couple of years I have been getting into Super 8 and 16mm film and cameras HARDCORE so I’m learning how to shoot film and do it properly. I also got some early 60s-80s Vidicon tube based cameras I’ve been getting into including Sony’s first consumer cam from 1965. I just don’t have the proper cables to hook up to see if it even works or makes a picture yet.

[comeradecoyote]

I'm curious how the super 8 would look given a 2K or 4K scan. They record a suprising amount of data. Likewise shooting an iso 50 film, and doing a color grade, will produce surprising results as well. All the same could be said for regular 8 and if your were to do it all again, with 16mm film as well.

[ACommenterOnYouTube]

MiniDV looked the best of the 8mm and Hi8 ...

[MrLyosea]

Guy at 0:48 with big ears and sideburns looks like he's from 1979 making this shot perfect! Other people could fit well too!

[SantiagoMonroy]

Um, i think that the minidv footage was an anamorphic 16:9 :/

[EM-kmem]

Super dilm and Hi8 are the kings! They still hold rich images when camera moves or things move around... where the others look cleaner but do not capture movements well enough

[CriticalTechReviews]

This Video 8 looks so much worse than the 90s tapes my mom and dad took on a relatively low end 1994 handycam. I wonder why. I was blown away watching it the other day, by how clear the 25 year old analog was, compared to old digital video from 10-15 years ago. Especially being just Video 8 and not Hi 8.

[LondenTower]

believe it or not. my mon and dad's MiniDV Camera surprisingly still works to this day.
It's a Sony HandyCam after all. (We're using it to dub some older footage to an mp4 file. heck, i even filmed with it in 2021 to see it still records and it does.)