Video-8

Introduced around the time of S-VHS, Video 8 was quick to steal the lion's share of the camcorder market in the late 1980s.

Its one of the sleek features were that at 8mm, the tape was smaller, and revolutionised home video. For a start, at a mere 8mm the tape width is much narrower than VHS. Recording times were increased with the introduction of 90 minute recording times and, for the first time, a truly affordable home camcorder format had found its way onto the market.

Video8 made it possible for camcorder owners to shoot holiday and other chersihed videos at relatively low cost, with one taape often all that was necessary to record the highlights of a special family or social occasion.

The format also found widespread use among industrial and public-sector bodies, too, such as insurance companies, police forces, etc. Though an analogue formatm it still enjoys widespread use.