View Full Version : Pro Dv tapes vrs. consumer Dv tapes
Dean Bull May 30th, 2002, 04:26 AM I am looking to buy a bunch of miniDv tapes in bulk and i was wondering what the benefits are of buy "Professional" miniDv tapes. Are there acutal visual enhacments or is it strictly an issue of sturdiness and wear?
If so called "consumer tapes" can handle recording fine, whats the deal?
Just wondering cause I don't have much cash, and every dollar saved is a dollar in my pocket!
Thanks
Don Donatello May 30th, 2002, 10:45 AM i've been using panasonic tapes for 2 1/2 years .. have used approx 300 ay-dv60 ( 3.25ea) and approx 50 Master Q 60 ( 7 ea) ...
i can't see the difference/hear difference ...
Frank Granovski May 30th, 2002, 09:51 PM I've had problems with some lines of tape, a few years back. Since I went to Fuji (and Panasonic for 2 of my cams), I've never had problems. And I never "mix" tapes. Find a good one, and stick with it.
Bruce Moore May 31st, 2002, 12:28 AM I use sony excellence but I understand from AZuHO, who uses sony premier, there's hardly any difference and they're half the cost $10 vs $5.00.
Bruce
Margus Kivilaan May 31st, 2002, 02:05 AM one of our local filmmakers uses DVCAM tapes although he shoots with Canon XL-1. He had some mechanical failures with consumer tapes. Price difference is big, DV tapes are some 2,5 times cheaper than DVCAM
Josh Bass May 31st, 2002, 10:21 AM About that tape mixing business. . .this guy at a local video equipment supply shop told me that you could mix mini dv tapes with no problem, and that it was only with higher formats that it became an issue. Everyone on this site seems to say differently. Who's right?
Frank Granovski May 31st, 2002, 01:40 PM The different lubs that rub off the tapes can interact and gum up your heads, thus screwed-up video: drop-outs, noise and those nasty bands and lines running across the footage. If you don't believe it, try it. Lots of people on message boards seek help because of dirty heads from mixing tapes---but don't know the cause.
Ken Tanaka May 31st, 2002, 02:33 PM Josh,
"We're right!" <g>
Seriously, though, there is a substantial body of evidence to support the pick an' stick tape brand philosophy.
Josh Bass May 31st, 2002, 03:29 PM Thank you sir. I suspected as much. The place where I heard that. . .not the people I'd choose to go to most of the time. I'd even name them so Houston residents could avoid them, but seeing as how now my real name is here on the forum (thanks Chris. . .Mr. Anti-alias (just kidding)), I don't want them to send the videography mafia after me or something.
Ford Minton June 1st, 2002, 04:36 AM A sidebar to this thread:
Something I always do with new tapes is to always cue FWD and REV end-to-end once or twice before I use the tape. I had drop-outs from time to time on a few tapes (both Sony and Panasonic) and after talking with some friends about the problem whom do pro video they recommended the "end-to-end" technique to tighten the tapes on the spools. Seems sometimes when tapes come from the factory they are loose on spools and that in some cases can cause the drop outs.
Has anyone else heard about this? I have had good luck since I started doing this.
Kai Leibrandt June 1st, 2002, 05:43 AM this spooling end-to-end is called retensioning and is common practice with many old data backup drives (like dds dat, or QIC tapes), in fact, any tape that has two spools in it.
I believe this was one of the reasons why Quantum went for a single spool in their DLT formats...
I have been doing it to my minidv tapes also (just once though when they come ou of the shrinkwrap), but I only had a problem once or twice before i started doing it.\
HTH
Kai.
Jeff Donald June 1st, 2002, 03:04 PM Hi,
I don't beleive they come out of the factory loose, but that it happens during transportation to their final destination. Retentioning also allows any loose particles to dislodge themselves and not clog your heads the first time they pass over your heads. I have always done this with my portable equipment and studio equipment and in over 20 years I've rarely had a head failure from tape clogging.
Jeff
Josh Bass June 1st, 2002, 03:57 PM Sounds like a good technique. So just to clarify, you fast forward all the way, and then rewind all the way, yes?
Frank Granovski June 1st, 2002, 04:44 PM I guess so, but use a cheap deck to do this. Another thing one can do is "blank" the tape, before using it to shoot with. But again, don't use your expensive cam to do this. Your heads will wear out more quickly.
Jeff Donald June 1st, 2002, 05:01 PM Hi,
Yes, just fast forward and rewind the tape. The wear and tear is minimal. The drive mechanism is direct drive (all gears - no belts) and not likely to wear out in our lifetime.
Jeff
Ford Minton June 1st, 2002, 09:12 PM JT- how do you feel about head cleaner tapes? Any specific brands to look for?
thx-
Frank Granovski June 1st, 2002, 09:21 PM It doesn't matter what brand of cleaning tape you use. Just try not to use it unless you have to. It's better to clean the heads with a cleaning kit or use alcohol---carefully.
Jeff Donald June 1st, 2002, 10:48 PM I don't really recommend cleaning tapes. If your stuck, follow the directions exactly. If it says play for 15 seconds. Play for 15 seconds, any extra may break your video or audio heads. Do not rewind cleaning tapes and use them again. In an emergency you can put a new blank tape into your recorder and FF about 5 minutes into the tape. Put the recorder into reverse search for about 5 minutes. Many times this can remove the clog until you can have your heads professionaly cleaned. For the brave of heart and those wishing to attempt this at home use 99.99% pure alcohol and swabs (not Q-Tips) and rub the moistened swab gently side to side across the heads. DO NOT rub up and down. This will almost certainly break a head. I do not recommend doing this unless your desperate to the tune of $400 to $500 dollars (the cost of replacing the upper drum assembly).
Jeff
Josh Bass June 1st, 2002, 11:18 PM Thanks for the tip. I recently shot a wedding, and I used a (didn't know this until later--I'll never shop at that place again either) consumer grade Panasonic tape (the LinearPlus, just in case you're wondering). I don't know if the tape grade was the cause, or what, but I actually did run out of tape, right at the end of the ceremony, luckily, and while trying to capture something that was on the last minute of tape to my computer , something went wacky and I had to extricate the tape it self from the playheads, and wind it back into the cassette. Perhaps your trick would have caused this not to happen.
Jeff Donald June 1st, 2002, 11:27 PM The first and last minute of tape are the most prone to drop outs, creases and overall irregularities. That is one of the reasons bars and tone are layed to tape for the first minute or so. You don't want program on the part of tape most likely to cause problems.
jeff
Josh Bass June 2nd, 2002, 01:36 AM Ah. I know they did that on analogue, but I wasn't sure if the rule applied to digital. Believe me, I didn't want to use that last minute!
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