In the course of recording HDV at 60i I am experiencing a problem of the loss of a second or two of recorded footage. There is no indication when this is occuring during shooting, only upon capture or playback. The playback delays, freezing momentarily then resumes at a point a second or so later. During a 30 minute shoot this is happening a dozen or so times. Has anyone else experienced this?

I've experienced this once so far. I think this is dropped frames in a long-GOP format. I would suggest higher quality tapes.

I use Panasonic Master Quality DV tapes (AMQ i think)

cheaper tapes, used tapes, older tapes, will probably cause more drop outs than new, clean, quality tapes.

Canon camera user manuals also advise to do a tape cleaning before using the camera to ensure the heads don't have any residue on them. If you haven't done that, probably should do so and see if the problem is resolved. If not, could be a trip to service.

I have used a head cleaner regularly, and apparently this hasn't resolved the problem.

I will see whether a better quality tape does any good though before bringing it in for service.

Thanks for the input.

It is also important to keep in mind that video heads MUST be burnished. This requires about 10 hours to really get the heads to a point of true functionality. DO NOT use a cleaning tape to burnish the heads. This process must be both long and minute.

I got a bad batch of tapes once (20 of them) & had massive drop outs.
First thought it was the camera, then my computer (just upgraded FCP), but used a couple of older tapes & no problem, go back to the new ones & have massive dropouts again. So it could be the tape.
Pani 63PQ