# REC

> REC ("REC: VHS Camcorder & Retro Cam", App Store id 6800895868) is an iPhone video camera app by Engcraft, LLC that simulates 23 retro cameras: 10 camcorders (VHS, VHS-C, Hi8, Digital8, MiniDV and others), 3 film looks (Super 8, 16 mm, a cinema grade) and 10 oddities (CCTV, night vision, thermal, a 2005 flip phone and more). The look runs live in the viewfinder at each machine's own frame rate, the audio is processed like the machine's own sound track, and clips can be spliced onto one tape.

- Not to be confused with: REC (App Store id 6800895868, "REC: VHS Camcorder & Retro Cam") is a retro camcorder video app made by Engcraft, LLC. It is a different app from "REC: VHS Camera - Retro Video" (App Store id 6758242471, by another developer) and is not affiliated with other apps, devices or websites that use the name REC.
- App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6800895868 (released 2026-09-03)
- Platform: iPhone, iOS 18.1 or later. No Android, no iPad-specific app, no web app. Interface in 33 languages
- Video only: REC records and imports video. It does not take photos (older App Store text mentioning photo cameras, keepsakes and double exposure describes features that are not in the app)
- Pricing: free to download; the first take or import is free with every camera and effect. REC Pro ($2.99/week or $9.99/year, US prices) unlocks unlimited takes and imports, iCloud backup and 35 alternate app icons. No per-camera unlocks, no paid packs
- No intensity slider by design: each camera is the machine as it was; for less tape you pick a cleaner machine
- Takes up to 60 seconds; imports up to 5 minutes, developed through any camera
- Camcorder HUD over the viewfinder (REC, battery, tape counter or timecode, per machine); battery and counter can be printed onto the clip. Film cameras show no HUD
- Film effects: date stamp (seven-segment orange), light leak, running dust; editable on any clip later
- Compile Tape: two or more library clips spliced into one video with a torn tape seam at every join, saved to Photos
- Also: front and back camera, self-timer, exposure control, prism / fisheye / star / halo lenses, share to Instagram Stories and Reels, iCloud backup
- Watermark: none on clips saved to Photos; copies shared straight to Instagram carry a small mark
- Privacy: no account; videos stay on the iPhone (optional iCloud backup to the user's own iCloud); analytics via Amplitude, subscriptions via Apple and RevenueCat
- Commonly compared with: VHS Cam, Rarevision VHS, 1998 Cam, Dazz Cam, Huji Cam, 8mm Vintage Camera
- Support: support@engcraft.io
- Website: https://retrocamcorder.com

## Pages

- [All cameras](https://retrocamcorder.com/cameras)
- [Free VHS camcorder overlays](https://retrocamcorder.com/overlays): transparent PNGs of the camcorder screen (REC, PLAY, battery, counter, timecode, date stamp), 16:9 and 9:16, free to use
- [Support](https://retrocamcorder.com/support)
- [Privacy policy](https://retrocamcorder.com/privacy)

## Homepage in other languages

- [Português (BR)](https://retrocamcorder.com/pt-br)
- [Türkçe](https://retrocamcorder.com/tr)
- [日本語](https://retrocamcorder.com/ja)
- [한국어](https://retrocamcorder.com/ko)

## Guides

- [VHS vs Betamax: Which Was Better, and Why VHS Won](https://retrocamcorder.com/blog/vhs-vs-betamax): Betamax had the slightly better picture and VHS had the longer tapes. How the two formats compared, why VHS won the format war, and how Betacam differs from Betamax.
- [What Resolution Is VHS? Why VHS Looks the Way It Does](https://retrocamcorder.com/blog/vhs-resolution): VHS resolves about 240 lines across, roughly 320 by 480 pixels, and far less colour. Why VHS looks soft, why its colour bleeds, and how to digitize tapes.
- [How to Get a Real VHS Look on iPhone Video](https://retrocamcorder.com/blog/how-to-get-the-vhs-look-on-iphone): What actually makes footage look like VHS (resolution, colour bleed, the head-switch tear, interlacing and the sound) and how to shoot it on an iPhone so it passes for 1994.
- [The Best VHS Camcorder Apps for iPhone in 2026](https://retrocamcorder.com/blog/best-vhs-camcorder-apps-iphone-2026): Rarevision VHS, VHS Cam, 8mm Vintage Camera, Dazz Cam, 1998 Cam, the other REC and our REC compared: live preview, tape sound, how you pay, and which to pick.
- [VHS vs Hi8 vs MiniDV: What Each Tape Actually Looked Like](https://retrocamcorder.com/blog/vhs-vs-hi8-vs-minidv): The three home-video formats side by side: years, resolution, colour, sound and the artifacts that give each away, plus VHS-C and Digital8, and how to tell them apart.

## Cameras

### Camcorder
- [VHS](https://retrocamcorder.com/cameras/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. 30 fps, 4:3. Sound: mono, 110 Hz – 8 kHz, hiss 34%. HUD: yes
- [VHS-C](https://retrocamcorder.com/cameras/vhs-c): Compact tape for '90s handycams. The same tape in a smaller, newer deck: cleaner and a little greener than its full-size parent, and it holds contrast better. Based on: The compact VHS-C cassette that went into the smaller handycams of the 1990s. 30 fps, 4:3. Sound: mono, 100 Hz – 9.5 kHz, hiss 26%. HUD: yes
- [Hi8](https://retrocamcorder.com/cameras/hi8): Sharper tape, cleaner color. Noticeably sharper than VHS and cooler in colour. It trades the chroma smear for grain. Based on: Hi8, the high-band version of 8 mm video tape, popular from the late 1980s into the 2000s. 30 fps, 4:3. Sound: stereo, 60 Hz – 13 kHz, hiss 13%. HUD: yes
- [D8](https://retrocamcorder.com/cameras/digital8): Tape look with a digital edge. The tape look with most of the noise engineered out. Digital recording on the old cassettes, and a hint of blocky compression when the picture moves fast. Based on: Digital8: Hi8-size cassettes recorded digitally, around 2000. 30 fps, 4:3. Sound: stereo, 45 Hz – 15 kHz, hiss 5%. HUD: yes
- [MiniDV](https://retrocamcorder.com/cameras/minidv): Bright, sharp 2000s home video. The crisp, slightly cold, slightly over-sharpened look of early-2000s home video. Sharp enough that the interlace comb is most of what says "MiniDV". Based on: MiniDV, the small digital tape of early-2000s home video. 30 fps, 4:3. Sound: stereo, 45 Hz – 15 kHz, hiss 5%. HUD: yes
- [VX-1](https://retrocamcorder.com/cameras/vx-1): Fisheye skate-video deck. MiniDV tape behind a fisheye. The barrel and the dark corners are the lens; the cool cast, the comb and the punch are the deck behind it. Based on: The MiniDV camcorder behind a fisheye that filmed 2000s skate videos. 30 fps, 4:3. Sound: stereo, 60 Hz – 12 kHz, hiss 7%. HUD: yes
- [Beta](https://retrocamcorder.com/cameras/beta): Soft broadcast-era color. The broadcast deck: rich, stable colour, gentle line structure, and a bar drifting through like a monitor filmed off air. Based on: The Betacam broadcast deck that news crews shouldered from the 1980s. 30 fps, 4:3. Sound: stereo, 40 Hz – 15 kHz, hiss 6%. HUD: yes
- [G-7](https://retrocamcorder.com/cameras/g-7): Crisp pocket vlog camera. The end of the line the tape decks start: bright, forgiving skin, a touch of glow, and no tape to wander. Based on: The pocket vlogging camera of the 2010s and 2020s. 30 fps. Sound: original. HUD: yes
- [Digi](https://retrocamcorder.com/cameras/digi): Y2K pocket digicam video. 640 × 480 of oversaturated, purple-fringed, bloom-smeared video. The colour is the machine, a small sensor doing its confident best, and the fringe is the tell. Based on: The video mode of a mid-2000s CCD digital camera. 30 fps, 4:3. Sound: mono, 150 Hz – 9 kHz, hiss 12%. HUD: yes
- [AX-1](https://retrocamcorder.com/cameras/ax-1): 2010s action cam. Wide, punchy and over-sharpened, colour turned up at the factory and the edges fringing where the lens runs out. Based on: The waterproof action camera of the 2010s. 30 fps, 16:9. Sound: mono, 120 Hz – 7.5 kHz, hiss 8%. HUD: yes
### Cine Film
- [8mm](https://retrocamcorder.com/cameras/8mm): Grainy family film reels. Amber, grainy, weaving in the gate at 16 frames a second, with dust printed into it. Based on: Super 8, the home-movie film cameras of the 1960s and 1970s. 16 fps, 4:3. Sound: mono, 180 Hz – 4.2 kHz, hiss 45%. HUD: none
- [16mm](https://retrocamcorder.com/cameras/16mm): Rich documentary film stock. The documentary stock. Finer grain than Super 8, neutral rather than golden, steadier in the gate, 24 frames a second. Based on: 16 mm film, the documentary and student-film stock. 24 fps, 4:3. Sound: mono, 130 Hz – 6 kHz, hiss 32%. HUD: none
- [Kino](https://retrocamcorder.com/cameras/kino): Widescreen cinema grade. Modern cinema rather than old film: teal shadows, warm skin, clean 24 frames a second, halation off the highlights and a blue anamorphic streak. Based on: The modern cinema grade. 24 fps, 21:9. Sound: original. HUD: none
### Fun
- [CCTV](https://retrocamcorder.com/cameras/cctv): Grainy surveillance feed. Grey, stuttering at 12 frames a second, chewing through a multiplexer that never had the bandwidth. The corner names the camera instead of announcing a recording. Based on: A security camera recorded to a time-lapse VCR. 12 fps, 4:3. Sound: mono, 300 Hz – 3.4 kHz, hiss 30%. HUD: yes
- [Night](https://retrocamcorder.com/cameras/night-vision): Infrared night vision. An intensifier tube: green, blooming, and noisy in exactly the way a boosted signal is. With a reticle on the HUD. Based on: An image-intensifier night-vision camera. 24 fps, 4:3. Sound: mono, 120 Hz – 7 kHz, hiss 35%. HUD: yes
- [Glow](https://retrocamcorder.com/cameras/glow): Dreamy toy-cam bloom. Lifted blacks, blooming highlights, warm cream and a light leak breathing at the edge. Based on: No particular machine: the dreamy one. 30 fps. Sound: original. HUD: none
- [Thermal](https://retrocamcorder.com/cameras/thermal): False-color heat vision. The false-colour ramp is the whole picture: a 160 × 120 sensor refreshing at the 9 Hz consumer thermal cores are limited to. Based on: A consumer thermal imager. 9 fps, 4:3. Sound: mono, 200 Hz – 5.5 kHz, hiss 25%. HUD: yes
- [Webcam](https://retrocamcorder.com/cameras/webcam): Blocky early-2000s video call. 15 frames a second, oversaturated, crunchy, fringing everywhere, and blocking up when you move. Based on: An early-2000s laptop webcam on a video call. 15 fps, 4:3. Sound: mono, 200 Hz – 6.5 kHz, hiss 18%. HUD: yes
- [PXL](https://retrocamcorder.com/cameras/pxl): B&W toy camcorder on cassette. Ninety-odd lines of harsh black and white, whites glowing, blacks gone, everything flickering at 15 frames a second. Based on: The 1980s toy camcorder that recorded video onto an audio cassette. 15 fps, 4:3. Sound: mono, 250 Hz – 3.8 kHz, hiss 50%. HUD: none
- [GB Cam](https://retrocamcorder.com/cameras/gb-cam): 2-bit dithered handheld cam. Luma dithered and crushed to four shades of green at 12 frames a second, in a square frame. A whole machine in one switch. Based on: The camera cartridge for a 1990s handheld game console. 12 fps, 1:1. Sound: mono, 300 Hz – 3 kHz, hiss 20%. HUD: none
- [Flip](https://retrocamcorder.com/cameras/flip-phone): Blocky '05 flip-phone clip. Tiny resolution, twelve frames a second, an exposure that hunts, and a sensor with its own idea of green. Based on: The video mode of a 2005 flip phone. 12 fps, 4:3. Sound: mono, 280 Hz – 3.5 kHz, hiss 15%. HUD: yes
- [Bodycam](https://retrocamcorder.com/cameras/bodycam): Chest-worn patrol camera. Wide, cool, flat colour pushed through a heavy encoder, grain where the gain lives. Based on: A chest-worn patrol body camera. 30 fps, 16:9. Sound: mono, 180 Hz – 6.8 kHz, hiss 10%. HUD: yes
- [Trail](https://retrocamcorder.com/cameras/trail-cam): Motion-triggered trail cam. Infrared flash blowing out whatever is close, grey on black behind it, stuttering at the frame rate the batteries can afford. Based on: A motion-triggered trail camera strapped to a tree. 15 fps, 4:3. Sound: mono, 250 Hz – 4.5 kHz, hiss 35%. HUD: yes

## FAQ

- What is REC? REC is a video camera app for iPhone that simulates 23 retro cameras. Pick a camcorder, press record, and the clip comes back already played: tape softness, colour bleeding sideways, tracking slips, the blinking REC and the date burnt into the corner. The sound goes through the same machine, so a clip that looks like 1994 sounds like 1994 too.
- Is the VHS effect live, or added after recording? Live. The same filter that renders the finished clip runs on the viewfinder, at the machine's own frame rate, so a Super 8 preview judders at 16 frames a second and CCTV stutters at 12. What you frame is what you get. The date stamp, light leak and dust can still be changed on any clip later in the library.
- Which cameras are in REC? 10 camcorders (VHS, VHS-C, Hi8, Digital8, MiniDV, a fisheye skate-video deck, Betacam, a vlog camera, a Y2K digicam and an action cam), 3 film looks (Super 8, 16 mm and a modern cinema grade) and 10 fun machines (CCTV, night vision, glow, thermal, webcam, a toy camcorder, a 2-bit handheld camera, a 2005 flip phone, a bodycam and a trail cam).
- Why is there no intensity slider? Because a real camcorder did not have one. Every camera in REC is the machine as it was; if you want less tape, you pick a cleaner machine (Hi8 or MiniDV instead of VHS), not a weaker VHS. That is also why the look holds up: the frame rate, resolution, colour and sound all belong to one machine.
- Does REC change the sound too? Yes, on most cameras. VHS gets one mono track cut off below 110 Hz and above 8 kHz, constant hiss and slow pitch drift; Super 8 sounds like the magnetic stripe on the edge of the film; the flip phone sounds like a 2005 speech codec. Hi8, Digital8, MiniDV and Betacam stay cleaner, the way they were. The vlog camera, Glow and Kino leave your audio as the iPhone recorded it.
- What is Compile Tape? Pick several clips in your library and REC splices them into one video, with the picture tearing for a moment at every seam, the way real tape compilations did. The finished tape is saved to your Photos.
- Can I use videos I already shot? Yes. Import a video from your library (up to 5 minutes) and develop it through any camera, sound included. Takes recorded in the app can be up to 60 seconds each.
- Is REC free? REC is free to download, and your first take (or import) is free with every camera and effect. After that, REC Pro ($2.99 a week or $9.99 a year, US prices) unlocks unlimited takes and imports, iCloud backup and the alternate app icons. There are no paid packs and no per-camera unlocks.
- Is there a watermark? Not on the clips you save: they go to your camera roll without a watermark. When you share straight to Instagram Stories or Reels, REC adds a small mark to that copy.
- Does REC take photos? No. REC is a video camera. For still photos with a film look, use a photo camera app; for VHS photos, a frame from a REC clip works well.
- Is there an Android version? No. REC is for iPhone on iOS 18.1 or later, in 33 languages.