Whats the deal with the various recording speeds for DV, and does Panasonic support them? Like, if you record 2 hours on a 1hr tape, what happens to the image and sound quality?

-John

You can't record 2 hours on a 1 hour tape. There are only two speeds: SP and LP. SP is nominally 60 minutes and LP is 90 minutes. You can find extended length tapes that will record longer if you look around.

Ok.. so you have a 60 min SP tape, but when you switch to LP or EP, what effect does that have on the video?

(I'm thinking in terms of VHS record speeds, is DV the same idea?)

Your PD150 has an EP mode? Never heard of any miniDV/DVCAM camera to have this recording speed---only SP and LP. Use SP.

Like Frank said, DV speeds are SP and LP. SP is 60 minutes and is preferred because it is a standard. LP is available but may not play except on the camcorder it was recorded on.

Digital is digital, so there is no loss of quality, only a loss of compatibility between playback devices.

one thing to note is that these play speeds adjust teh speed of the tape mechanism and drum..

SP (60/63mins) - Standard Speed
LP (90/96ish)- Longer recording time = slower tape mechanism
DVCam (40mins)- Faster Tape Mechanism = shorter recording time

some cams adjust LP time by a fraction of a second which can cause problems, which is why u shoudlnt use it for pro work.. DVCam is sonys format which is apparently better, but i am yet to see comparable results (re dropouts) I use MQ tapes on a and havent had a dropout yet...
Also some (most actually) cams cant playback DVCam... my MX500 has issues with DVCam, but my old DS88 plays them perfectly.. these are panasonic cams which theoretcially shoudlnt be able to play these..

oh lastly... be sure to wind ur tapes forward and back again to set the tape tension.. sometimes dropouts occur due the tension on the cassete either being too slack or too taught.. i used to get dropouts all the time until i started doing this..