REC / Cameras / Camcorder / VHS
Camcorder · VHS camcorder effect
VHS
The '80s home-movie tape
Washed out, magenta-warm, the colour running half a centimetre ahead of the picture and the heads tearing up the bottom edge. The home-movie tape everyone remembers.
Based on The full-size VHS camcorder, the shoulder deck families carried from the late 1980s.
- Frame rate
- 30 fps
- Resolution
- 50%
- Frame
- 4:3
- Sound
- Mono tape
A clip developed through VHS in REC, with its HUD.
The picture
- Recorded at about half the resolution of the clip, then scaled back up, which is where real tape softness comes from
- Colour smears sideways off the picture: the single most recognisable tape artifact
- A faint ghost of the image sits just to the right
- Bands of the picture jump sideways for a few frames as the tracking slips
- The torn, noisy strip along the bottom where the heads swap over
- Interlace combing on anything that moves, and a soft bar drifting up the frame
The sound
One mono track, cut off below 110 Hz and above 8 kHz, with constant hiss and the slow pitch drift of a capstan that was never quite round.
- Band
- 110 Hz – 8 kHz
- Hiss
- 34%
- Wow · flutter
- ±11 · ±5 c
The display
A blinking red dot and REC, "SP" top right, a three-cell battery and a running tape counter, in seven-segment LCD digits.
VHS in REC: questions
How do I get the VHS look on iPhone video?
Open REC, pick VHS from the camera strip and press record. The look runs live in the viewfinder, so what you frame is what you get. You can also import a video you already shot and develop it through VHS.
Does the VHS camera change the sound?
Yes. One mono track, cut off below 110 Hz and above 8 kHz, with constant hiss and the slow pitch drift of a capstan that was never quite round.
Is VHS free in REC?
Every camera, VHS included, is in the free download, and your first take is free. Unlimited takes need REC Pro ($9.99 a year or $2.99 a week, US prices).
Guides
VHS vs Hi8 vs MiniDV: what each tape actually looked like How to get a real VHS look on iPhone video The best VHS camcorder apps for iPhone in 2026
