My playback on a particular tape stutters every half second through a section, no matter what deck I play it on. The more I try it, the more stutters it plays. Am I looking at a bad tape or a head that needs servicing? (Living in AZ, that means I have to go to Cali!) Due to the perpetual degradation of playback, it sounds like the tape, but I've never had that problem. Thoughts?

I have only seen dropouts a couple times with my Z1, but this sounds like one to me....

I would suspect a dirty drum causing the tape to track incorrectly/inconsistantly. I would suspect that the tape is also an issue or at least a contributor to the problem. It could be shedding of have something on the tape that is causing the drum problem. Have you tried running a head cleaner tape in your camera?

Yeah, and hopefully that solves the problem.