mini dv or hd tapes does it matter?

[Andy Lunn]

If i am recording by the good old tape method in HD. Do you recommend i just use the standard mini dv tapes or is it better to pay the extra for the HD tapes? is this just a gimmick to make you pay more? isnt the data rate the same on either tapes?

Also i was told you should never use different brands as the gunk build up affects the heads, is this true? and what tape brand do you guys/gals use?

cheers.\\

A.

[Ian Thomas]

Andy

this as been discussed many times before, some say use the HDV tapes and some say use the DV tapes and if you look back on this forum you will find these threads

I use Panasonic AY-DVM63PQ and have tried AY-DVM63MQ with no prob's up to now (touch wood)

But sticking with one brand of tape is a good move

[Jonathan Selesu]

I've tried both Sony Premium DV tapes and Sony HDV tapes and the only noticeable difference is that there's a TAD less grain when shooting in dark areas with the HDV tapes.

Other then that, no difference what-so-ever.

[Marty Hudzik]

Originally Posted by Jonathan Selesu

I've tried both Sony Premium DV tapes and Sony HDV tapes and the only noticeable difference is that there's a TAD less grain when shooting in dark areas with the HDV tapes.

Sorry to shoot down your theory but since all that is being stored on the tapes are digital 1s and 0s there is no way the actual image quality can be affected. If there is a problem with the tape then you will get no image for .5 seconds or more. Essentially it looks like the video freezes up. This is for HDV. For DV you would likely get little blocks in your image or have banding that splits your fram into segments. The effects are very, very obvious.

Nothing as subtle as more grain or a little noise can be attributed to using different grade tapes or brands. The bottom line is you get dropouts or you don't.