Let’s say you have a mixture of tapes and only want to convert some and hang onto the rest here’s what we recommend…
Sadly, every tape will completely degrade and erase eventually so it’s best to convert all tapes.
But if there’s an order of which type of tape goes bad first then it’s the latest in the tape technology, the MiniDV. The narrower and thinner the tape film (the actual black film inside the tape) the sooner it’ll degrade.
Next up is the Hi8, Digital8, Video8, 8mm tapes. They all used the same cassette tape but was encoded differently. Nonetheless the second to go bad are those tapes. Then we have the VHSC and VHS. VHS will outlast all the ones mentioned. However since VCR/VHS was much older technology than the 8mm and MiniDV tapes, that means it’s been sitting in your storage for many years longer. Chances are the VHS tapes are already going bad.
You should expect some loss of video and/or audio. Every year and depending on how it’s stored, every month counts. Don’t wait too long, it’s best to convert all your tapes as soon as possible if you want to save those memories. We can help! We can digitize your video tapes! We can convert to a DVD or a digital file! We’ve been helping our community of Los Angeles, Hollywood, Santa Monica and even across the states to transfer their videos to DVDs or digital files!