What is the Average Lifespan of a Camcorder Videotape?
The build of camcorder looks like they last forever. They are heavy, and the tape is well hidden inside. However, that’s simply not the case. Over the course of their service, these devices are subject to the ravages of time. Camcorder videotape degrades, and the precious memories end up lost.
Storage
The ideal storage conditions for camcorders and camcorder videotape are specific. However, keeping a perfect 70 degrees Fahrenheit with no humidity is exceedingly tricky. To top it off, to extend lifespan, the device cannot be operated. Any internal motion causes wear ant tear, thus shortening its lifespan.
Many analog media devices are kept in boxes. These boxes stay in closets and storage units without any monitoring. That can decimate family memories. Add in the possibilities of natural disasters, and those VHS tapes really don’t look safe.
Magnetic Tape
Camcorder videotape uses magnetic tape. Over time this tape simply loses that magnetism and playback increases the rate. Magnetic tape can experience other issues as well. For example, the backing and substrate layers can stretch, which un-synchronizes the tape.
Watching old VHS tapes should result in a noticeable drop in quality. Eventually, the tape may run through the VCR, but there’s nothing there to play. That happening to family memories would be devastating.
Playback Pieces
Analog media has more pieces than the precious magnetic tape that holds the data. In a camcorder, there are a couple different moving parts that manipulate the film. If any of them go, the device cracks and the tape experiences damage.
Camcorder videotape also falls into the same pitfalls as VHS. The components of the tape itself are imperfect. The plastic gears that the VCR hooks into the turn the tape and the protective flap to name a few can jam up. Without a reliable repair method, there’s very minimal hope once a storage device gets damaged.
The Verdict
The average household has a store of videotapes. However, they hit a technical problem. Many of these households no longer own the technology to playback their family video collection without digitizing. Quite often, children don’t recognize what a VHS tape even is.
With that in mind, the average camcorder videotape can last between 20 and 30 years. While this figure is not absolute, after that point there’s not a lot of hope. To top it off, technology is already close to that limit, since people started going digital once it became affordable.
The best way to ensure the safety of family memories is to digitize them. Once scanned, the records store in both a flash drive and the cloud for redundancy. There’s a lot less risk of loss once things are digital, and it makes sharing memories easier. Just because a camcorder could last 30 years and still work does not mean that the chance should be taken with precious family memories.
