what tapes to use?
 

im currently using a fuji tape which were recommended to me by a guy at best buy.

i was wondering if i can really get a better outcome in film in using a better tape? if so..what kind?

Better tapes will not enhance your image, the same data is recorded whether you buy a $2 tape or a $30 tape.

More expensive tape may be more reliable for recording and storage.

And cheap tape is more prone to glitches and dropouts. We have an entire forum about this called "The Long Black Line."

When I first bought my Xi, I had a box of the more expensive Sony DV tapes. Every shot I took was full of dropouts, not matter how many times I cleaned the heads, and head cleaning tapes are not something you want to use very often. Almost every shot was ruined by excessive audio and video glitching. I almost sent the camera back because I thought something was wrong with it.

Before I did though, I bought a box of 10 Panasonic tapes off of eBay for under $40. I don't believe I've had a single drop out since.

Because I was a user of the larger format 8mm Digital8 tapes before, I was worried that the miniDV's might not hold up as well. I know it's not recommended that you do this, but I have experimented with recording over a tape at least four times now (playing it back at least a couple of times first), and still haven't had a drop out yet! OK, so I'm cheap...

I think the most important issue is to find a brand of tape your camera is happy with, and stick to it.