In the cupboard under the television there are still twelve video tapes. On the spines, in your father's handwriting: Els's First Communion 1989, Christmas at Grandma's, Seaside 1994. Nobody has watched them in twenty years, because nobody has a video recorder any more. This article shows you how to save them, step by step.
The short answer
Magnetic tape deteriorates, and the machines to play it are disappearing. So digitise now. MiniDV you copy without loss via FireWire. VHS, Video8 and Hi8 you play on a video recorder or camcorder and record with a capture device. Super 8 film is best sent to a film scanner or a service. Make one preservation copy in the highest possible quality and an MP4 for sharing, and do not throw the originals away.
Why now
Magnetic tape was not made to last forever. The Canadian Conservation Institute gives an average of 10 to 30 years for magnetic tape, and meemoo, the Flemish Institute for Archives, points out that tapes physically deteriorate and that even repeated playback lowers the quality. The second problem is the equipment: the Japanese company Funai made the last video recorders at the end of July 2016. In 2025, Beeld en Geluid (Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision), the Dutch audiovisual archive, took over some 1,500 old players, precisely because recordings are lost without such machines.
Which format, and what you need
| Format | To play it | Note |
|---|---|---|
| VHS | A video recorder | Clean the heads before you start |
| VHS-C | A video recorder with a VHS-C adapter | The adapter is a cassette that the small tape fits into |
| Video8 and Hi8 | A camcorder for that format | Many, though not all, Digital8 camcorders also play them |
| MiniDV | A camcorder with FireWire | Already digital: copy without loss, with the recording date |
| Super 8 and 8 mm film | A film scanner, or a service | Super 8 was usually filmed at 18 frames per second |
Doing it yourself: the key steps
- Check first. If a tape or film smells of vinegar or decay, do not play it. Have it checked.
- Clean. Clean the heads of the recorder or camcorder.
- Choose the best connection. S-Video gives a better picture than the yellow composite cable. Cheap USB capture devices work, but professional equipment gives better quality.
- Keep two versions. meemoo recommends a preservation copy without loss of quality, plus an MP4 (H.264) for sharing and viewing.
- Throw nothing away. Keep the original tapes, even after digitising.
Using a service: five questions to ask first
- Which file format will I receive the recordings in, and will I also get a version without editing?
- Will the original resolution and the number of frames per second be kept?
- How is the picture deinterlaced, and can I also get the version that has not been deinterlaced?
- Will I get all the originals back, and how will they be packed?
- Is the price per tape or per hour of footage?
Storing the tapes in the meantime
Store video tapes upright, cool and dry, below 23 degrees and 50 percent humidity, and at least 7.5 centimetres from magnets such as loudspeakers. Store film flat, in ventilated cans, and set a film that smells of vinegar apart in a well-ventilated place. Not in the attic, the cellar or the garage.
And then
A folder of video files is only the beginning: who is in it, where was this, which year? Write it down, while someone still remembers. In The Memory Palace you can give videos a place in the rooms of a palace, next to the photos and stories from the same time, and invite the family to watch along. Keep in mind that video takes up a lot of space: the free plan has 1 GB and Keeper 25 GB.
If you also have digital photos from those years, thememorypalace.ai/timeline shows for free which years are still missing from your photo folder. And for photos on paper, read our article on digitising old photos.
New in October 2026: for capture equipment, the honest difficulties and verified UK and US service prices, read digitising VHS and MiniDV: equipment, services and costs.