quick answer..yes or no

[Jay Legere]

Putting new tape brand in my camera...

Clean the heads first?

This will be a temporary switch then back to the old brand...ok to clean again so early?

[Noa Put]

yes and yes

[Jay Legere]

you the man

thanks

[Phil Taylor]

No and it depends. Are you switching from dry to liquid? If staying with the same type tape don't clean the heads. Each time you clean the heads you create a little wear on them. I never clean unless I have some trouble which is very, very, very, rare.

[Noa Put]

Since Jay just wanted to have a yes or no I gave exactly that as an answer. :) but to explain, I always use the same brand of tape and I never use a cleaning tape unless my camera tells me to or unless I'm starting to get more dropouts during recording then normal.

But if I change to another brand of tape, wether it's dry/wet tape I always run a tapecleaner before/after. Been doing it like this for years and using a tapecleaner won't ruin the tapeheads in this way. (unless you change tapebrands every day but then it's better to by a camera with a cf card :))

[Taky Cheung]

I always have a head cleaning tape stand by ready. You never know when the camcorder will pop the display about cleaning the head. One time, that display came up in my un-manned GL2. I didn't notice the message until later on. all the wedding stuff only recorded half of the screen (it was DV, not HDV). Luckily I still have lots of good footage from the main cam.

Now I will run the head cleaning tape once per 2 wedding jobs.

[Colin McDonald]

Originally Posted by Taky Cheung

Now I will run the head cleaning tape once per 2 wedding jobs.

How often do you run the head *replacing* tape then?
:-)

[Allan Black]

Originally Posted by Noa Put

I never use a cleaning tape unless my camera tells me to or unless I'm starting to get more dropouts during recording then normal.

Noa, the problem I'd have there is, my camera telling me to clean its heads immediately after I've shot the sequence of the year .. so I don't know whether I've recorded it correctly or not.

IMO this business of ruining DV heads by running too much cleaning tape is a furfie, blown way out of proportion over the years.

The DV cam manufacturers say you should change the heads after 1000hrs use. Some say 2000, or more. That's one heck of a lot of tapes and in other threads I pointed out .. you'll upgrade your camera well before you wear its heads out.

So running a cleaner tape for 10secs before *every average prosumer taping session* has no bearing whatsoever on the life of its heads. It might if you recorded 4 sessions a day 7 days a week for 2 years but who among us does that? That's TV network ENG work for cameras.

In the Canon HV20 manual p92 it says, '...and clean the heads frequently' and you should.

The blurb with the cleaner tapes say you can use it twice through before junking it. It's a marketing exercise because folk would baulk at using it only once .. for the price. IMO after the first time through, the tape has picked up the shed mag oxide and gunk, so why take the chance of depositing it back in the tape path?

When you buy your DV cleaner tape, the same brand as the DV tape you record with .. buy 2 because it's hard to tell through its little window, when one is about to run out ... a real pain.

Cheers.

[Phil Taylor]

I agree with the following as most do.

Step 1. Buy a head cleaning tape that fits your camera directly from the manufacturer. There are a lot of generic products that you can get away with using with your camera, but when it comes to a camera head cleaner, it's best to use the one that is made for it. Head cleaning tapes will list the type of cameras that they can be used on. You should be able to find one that works with your camera at any electronics store.

Step 2. Insert the head cleaning tape into the video compartment. Many head cleaning tapes are made all-in-one and have no additional solution. It's possible that your camera will require a tape that comes with an additional solution. If so, consult the instructions with the tape. It will tell you how to add the cleaning solution to the tape before inserting it into your camera.

Step 3. Place your video camera on "VCR" or "Playback" mode. You need to be able to play the tape, so a head cleaner will not work if your camera is on "Camera" or "Record" mode.

Step 4. Play the head cleaning tape. Let the tape play for 10 to 15 seconds. Head cleaning tapes are abrasive. Running the tape for an extended period can actually damage the heads on your video camera.

Step 5. Eject the head cleaning tape, and flip your video camera to "Camera" or "Record" mode. If the dirty heads on your camera were causing a distorted image, you should be able to see the difference right away in your viewfinder.

[Tom Hardwick]

Originally Posted by Phil Taylor

Step 3. Place your video camera on "VCR" or "Playback" mode. You need to be able to play the tape, so a head cleaner will not work if your camera is on "Camera" or "Record" mode.

This is quite wrong. The tape deck mechanism doesn't give a hoot if it's in rec or play, the mechanical actions are exactly the same. You can run a cleaning tape in rec or play - it's just as effective in either.

[Phil Taylor]

As I said "Step 3. Place your video camera on "VCR" or "Playback" mode. You need to be able to play the tape, so a head cleaner will not work if your camera is on "Camera" or "Record" mode."

[Allan Black]

This thread is in the Canon XH Series HDV forum. DV cleaning tape instructions say PLAY the tape.

To stop you from accidentally pressing RECORD, the tape manufacturers have removed the record/save tab from the shell.

Cheers.

[Tom Hardwick]

Alan - my Sony MiniDV head cleaning tape has the conventional sliding door, so can be run in rec or play.

Phil, you say a head cleaner 'will not work if your camera is on "Camera" or "Record" mode'. I'm interested to find out why you persist in saying this when it isn't so.

[Noa Put]

Originally Posted by Allan Black

IMO this business of ruining DV heads by running too much cleaning tape is a furfie, blown way out of proportion over the years.

Allen, I have had a very nasty experience beginning this year during a wedding with my xh-a1, I had already filmed one hour during a wedding and during the church ceremony I had to switch tapes and a 3th time in the evening. The whole time I could record without a problem. The next day I discovered that the church tape was ruined for 80% with more the 100 drop-outs. I had always been using the same brand of tapes and always been using brand new ones with each recording. The church tape even came out of it's plastic wrapping just before I changed it.

Specialized companies told me once the data on a tape has been compromised it's gone unlike with CF cards which still might hold the "lost" data. Most likely cause could have been dust that came inbetween the heads and tape during the switching of the tape or the big temperature difference between in/out. It was about 5 degrees outside that day but inside I was standing right beside a extremely hot electrical heater which nearly burned my leg even from 1 meter distance.

So, a cleaning tape might or might not have saved that tape if I would have ran it in the morning once but we never know. What I do know is that it made me buy a hvr-dr60 immediately and have not regretted that since. Now I record to tape and ext drive and have a better time sleeping after a wedding. :)

[Phil Taylor]

The following is a bit more info on cleaning.

Store Location ->Camcorder FAQ's: Considering Your Need | Mini DV Tapes | Panasonic DVC Mini DV Tapes | Next Page

Panasonic AY-DVMCLA Mini DV Cleaning Cassette
Starting at $8.95 each!
Availability : Usually ships the same business day.

Product Description

This MiniDV head cleaner tape is designed to do a complete cleaning in ONLY 10 SECONDS and is suitable for all MiniDV camcorders from Sony, Panasonic, Canon, JVC, Sharp and others.

Standard Cleaning Procedure:
Consult your recorder’s owners manual for recommended cleaning schedules and procedures. Each cleaning causes a certain amount of head wear so do not clean your heads more frequently than needed.
Insert and play the cleaning tape for 10 seconds. Using a cleaning tape more than 10 seconds at a time could cause it to damage your heads.
Eject the cleaning tape.
Insert a pre-recorded tape.
Play the tape and see if you have drop-outs in the picture. You may have one or two right when you start playing the tape but let it play for a good 30 seconds or more and see if you have any more.
If you do have drop-outs even after cleaning the heads and letting it play for a little bit, re-insert the cleaning tape and clean it for another 10 seconds.
Check it again with the pre-recorded tape.
If the problem doesn’t go away after four 10-second cleanings, take your camera in for service.
Discard the cassette when the tape has reached the end.
In addition to regular scheduled cleanings, it is also recommended that you clean your heads when you switch brands or grades of tape, in case they use different types of lubricants that may be incompatible. We also recommend that you clean the heads after using a camera in an unusually dirty environment.

Additional info:

How to Clean Video Camera Heads | eHow.com

Mini DV Head Cleaner - HuntingFootage.com Forum