File-based video formats offer huge productivity benefits in terms of faster-than-realtime ingest, increased metadata and data efficency, but there are also some huge drawbacks around the less tangible aspects of video production and post-production.

When we shoot on tape we always have the tape (as long as we look after it anyway) – we ingest what we need, at a lower resolution if necessary, and then put the tape on the shelf. If we’re short on discspace we can delete what we don’t need, and can always get it off tape again if we need it. If a drive dies we have the tape. Tapes are inexpensive, easy to source, easy to store and fairly easy to index and track. Files and memory card are much less so.

And as much as this is a problem in professional fim-making, it concerns me much more in the consumer market where flash-based and harddrive cameras have become increasingly common. While as professionals we can be reasonably expected to have the knowledge and skills to preserve our footage, the same can’t generally be said for consumers.

Are the next generation going to be able to rummage through boxes in the attic for the old home movies of them as kids? I doubt it. Think about it, have you got many or any of the files your treasured on your computer 10, 15 or 20 years ago? Of course, there are similar issues with consumer tape formats – can you still play Video8 tapes? Probably not, but at least if you have the tapes you can search for a player.

Are there any solutions being offered to consumers at large to make the memorys and moments they capture on their file-based camera anything more than temporary? I’m certainly not aware of any.

The moments we’re capturing now might not exist in any form at all within years unless we are especially careful to retain them for the future, and we take that responsibility upon ourselves. For professionals this is hard enough – have you taken reasonable steps to backup your P2 or XDCAM EX footage? Certainly for many the answer is no. And if we’re shooting file-based homevideos are we even half as careful with them? Would we expect our parents, siblings or friends to take the care and initiative to ensure their videos survive longer than their current computer?

When people ask me for a video camera recommendation now I don’t have an answer, but generally I’m still predisposed to something that shoots on a tape of some sort. It may be more limited in many ways, but there is some comfort in seeing a tape sitting on a shelf.