Hi All

Recently purchased a HVR-Z1U on ebay. I purchased this from a ebay store, and they do not know what brand of tape was used by the previous owner.

I purchased a few Sony DVM85HD tapes to use as all I have at the moment are Sony DVCAM tapes and DVM60 tapes for my PD150 and 170. I have used a Sony DVCAM/HDV professional cleaning tape. Just wondering if the DVM85HD tapes are the best to use for everyday HDV footage, or if I am better off using another brand? I have a friend of mine who has been using fuji tapes from day one in his XHA1 and has never had a dropout. I have a dropout every once in awhile although I use the same brand tape (Sony) with a mix between DVM60's and PDVM-40 tapes in my PD150 & PD170s. I know these are much older cameras, however there are only a few hundred drum hours on them and heads are cleaned once every few months, and once before a paid gig.

I also use a DSR-30 deck to ingest my footage from the DV tapes, however I will have to be using my camera for the HDV footage for now until i get a new deck or a MRC1 which I am looking at.

Just wondering what brand/model tape people have had the most success with the Z1U and maybe even the PD150 and 170 as i am havinvg dropouts with the DVM60s.

Sorry for this being a double post. I posted this incorrectly in another section.

Thanks
Mark

Mark,

The only tape I've ever put into my Z1's over the past three years is Sony DVM63HDR. I've shot around 100 hours of footage during that time and only experienced 2 dropouts. Overall, I'm pretty happy with these tapes. The only thing I don't like about them is that their more expensive than the DVM60s. I think the 60s run about $1.99 each and the 63s cost around $6.50 a piece. I can't comment on the performance of the 60s in the Z1 but using the 63s, I've had really good results.

Mike