8mm & Hi8

[Claire Hart]

I just bought an 8mm camcorder on ebay in order to be able to watch, 
and possibly convert to DV, many home movies we filmed with a camera 
that was since stolen.  In fact, we had one camera, an 8mm, which was 
stolen.  We bought its upgrade, a Hi8, at a garage sale, thus allowing 
us to use the same spare battery, recharger, remote, etc.  So half of 
our cassettes are 8mm and half are Hi8.  This camera is a ProScan, 
which was made by Hitachi for Circuit City for only two years.

After searching a while, I found the same camera on ebay, and it was 
labeled as a Hi8 camcorder.  Upon taking it out of the box, I found 
that it had the "8" on the side, rather than the "Hi8".  I have not yet 
tried Hi8 cassettes in it, but I know that my 8mm ProScan had an "8" on 
the side, and my Hi8 ProScan had a "Hi8" on the side.

Can I play Hi8 cassettes in an 8mm camcorder?  I've been searching on 
google for the answer to this question, but the forums are usually 
answering the question going the other way (can I play an 8mm in a Hi8, 
which is "yes").  Also, many people are also asking the compatibility 
between 8mm, Hi8, Digital8, miniDV, etc., and that is not my question.

I could just go pop in a Hi8 into the camcorder and try it, but i don't 
want the camcorder to eat the tape in the process.

Thanks for your advice.