Old 8mm video recording tapes and standards

Question

I want to transfer a set of old home video tapes recorded on a Sanyo VM-D66P. I do not have access to the camcorder anymore need to buy a camcorder that will play them so I can capture it via USB. The manual unfortunately does not make it clear precisely the type of tapes that it used.

The instruction manual gives the following hints:

• Television System: PAL, CCIR
• Video recording system: Rotating 2-head helical-scan FM, color under system
• Audio recording system: Rotating head FM system
• Cassette type: 8mm video tape cassette
• Tape speed: SP: 20.051 mm/sec
• Tape speed: LP: 10.025 mm/sec
• Recording/playback time: 180 minutes (P5-90 cassette)

After looking through the 8mm video format wikipedia page, I have come to the weary conclusion that the VM-D66P used the standard "original Video8 (analog recording) format". Does this sound correct? And does this mean I can use any Video8-compatible camcorder to play back the VM-D66P tapes?

Thanks!

Answer 1

The logo on the manual I could find indicates that it was standard 8mm, not Hi8 or Digital8. If you are in a PAL region, then most likely it is the PAL version of 8mm. You should be able to use any PAL based 8mm playback deck or camcorder to play the tape back. You then be able to use a standard video capture device to digitize the video that you playback.