Hi

I've got a Sony HC7 at work, which has hardly been used. I am in sole control of it and I know fully it's use, it was brought last summer. The pack of tapes that was brought with it all seem to stick on playback. there is no distortion in the image, no blocking or lines, it just pauses for a few seconds, then plays back a few more seconds, then sticks, etc. I thought it was a dodgy tape, so I opened another and sure enough, the same thing.

Last week I brought a brand new HC3 for my own use. I thought I'd give it a go with the work tapes to see if it was the camera but they do it in my camera to. The make of the tapes is JVC DV60ME. Some of the tapes are high grade, some are normal. Has anyone else had this with the Sony HDV units and JVC tapes? I have cleaned the heads but nothing seems to fix it.

If someone could help me out, that would be really great!

Thanks,

Russ

Dear Russ,

This does not sound like a tape issue to me.

However, to rule out tape issues, I would Fast Forward and then Rewind the tapes prior to playing or capturing, just as a test.

If you are going to record on these suspect tapes, FF and then Rewind before recording.

It is not clear to me if you have already captured the tapes and then are playing back. I assume that you have not already captured from your post.

I would FF and then Rewind, then capture the tape, checking for dropped frames, then play the captured footage.

Russ, if those tapes stick in both machines, get rid of them.

IMO they are contaminated stock, either faulty manufacture or badly stored somewhere. By trying to use them, you're just depositing gunk on the guides and heads which may end up with a trip to the shop to get them cleaned.

Cheers.

Thanks for the replies.
Yes I had already recorded on the tapes, and was playing back my footage when I noticed it. It doesn't seem to do it in SD though, only HD. I found a forum elsewhere here that Sony HD cameras have the problem??

I have ff and rewind all the way through, I do that standard practice, also recorded blank to get a constant timecode just in case this was the issue.

I have got rid of the tapes anyway. Thanks.

Interesting. I had this problem with an FX1 and the Sony HD master tapes. I surmise that either it's a bad batch or I exposed the tapes to extreme temperatures at one point.