Video8 has one major advantage over the full-size competition. Thanks to their compact size, Video8 camcorders are small enough to hold in the palm of the user's hand. Such a feat was impossible with Betamax and full-sized VHS camcorders, which operate best on sturdy tripods or strong shoulders. Video8 also has an advantage in terms of time, because although VHS-C offers the same "palmcorder" size as Video8, the VHS-C tapes only hold, at most, 45 minutes of tape in SP speed. Thus, Video8's 120-minute capacity served well for most users during its peak. (Both machines include longer playing modes at 120 and 240 minutes, respectively, but at the cost of reduced-quality images.) Longer sessions generally require additional infrastructure (line power or more batteries), and hence longer recording times offer little advantage in a true travelling environment.