Equipment is economical and the format is robust. Tapes are still expensive after being on the market for years. Consumers did not switch to this format even though the picture was much better. Consumers are actually satisfied with VHS picture quality. This format will suffer as more people see the new digital formats.
Camcorder use is bulky and usually used by professionals with tripods.
The format is based on one half inch tape, but due to the small size of the cassette the tape stock is very thin. This is the most fragile of all formats and accounts for most of our tape repair work. Quality is about the same as VHS but must be transferred quickly before stretching occurs. The first thirty seconds should be recorded with the lens cap left in place. We recommend the JVC adapter to play these tapes.