ISO Image, AVCHD or MP4

[Hangerbum]

I recently had to create a ISO Image as a work around for a problem I'm having with PRE19 when burning a DVD or Blu-Ray disk. I've  never used/created a ISO file before and It has me thinking....... Is a ISO file  a good or better format for storing my videos on my back up HDD or should I stick with the default format in which I created them? i.e  AVCHD or MP4

I understand ISO is a image of the finished product after editing and that, is all I need?. I always burn a DVD or Blu-ray for archive and viewing purposes but I also want a digital version as well for archive. Is there a downside to ISO as a archive? I'm of the opinion I can get rid of the raw video once I have my finished product. External drives are getting cheaper so storage is not necessarily an issue but I font want to lose any quality or the ability to retrieve and edit again

[Steve Grisetti · Accepted solution]

The main advantage to an ISO is that it includes both your DVD or BluRay's video and its menu system.

But if that doesn't matter to you and you just want to save your movie as a file you can watch or edit later, an MP4 is as good as any format.

[Hangerbum]

OK thanks Steve. I shoot AVCHD almost exclusively and don't want to give up the HD quality by compressing to MP4. I need to get rid of the raw video after I have edited and created my "disk"  and then the ISO for HDD archive because I don't need the duplication talking up all that space. If that is the typical methodology of the videographer community that's what I was looking for.