Length of a Mini DV Tape
 

I did some searching and was wondering what the length of the tape within a Mini DV cassette is. This is just out of curiosity. If I opened up a Mini DV tape and stretched out the tape in a line, how long would it be for a typical 60 minute tape?

You, Sir, have serious time on your hands ... and I salute you for it!

Actual 62 minutes of tape on a 60 minute rated cassette. 18.81 mm/sec for DV ... which works out to 699cm (aka almost 7 metres) for the full 62 minutes.

Of course, I could be wrong. Please measure and compare your results with mine. :-)

Andrew

<< wrong information posted>>

Seven meters (about 21 feet) seems low, and I think I know why: doing the math (3720 seconds times 18.81) equals about 69973 mm, or 6997 cm, not 699 cm. So Andrew's off by a decimal point.

So at 2.54 cm to the inch, we're looking at 2754.85 inches, or 229.57 feet.

But my tapes are usually 62.5 minutes, so let's redo the math. 3750 seconds x 18.81mm = 70537.5mm, /10 = 7054cm, /2.54 = 2777in, /12= 231.4 ft.

Ok, found a 40 minute DVCam tape (PDV series) which is a 60 minute DV load and lo and behold:
233 feet as printed on the label.

Here's "proof"

[deleted] [deleted]

<< references DELETED post>>

Glad to know my math was pretty close.

ACTUALLY ALL MY FAULT: last night I grabbed a large cassette 94 minute.

The PDV-184 (4.5 hours in DV) is 1033 feet)

Apologies for the misinformation. No more typing just before bed.

And I'll apologise for the dodgy decimal point.

(Should have just looked at a tape box to read it off, too)

Andrew

I actually looked at my Sony labels and I swear I didn't see a thing, but it was night and dark in my office. This morning, lo and behold, there it is on the shrink-wrap, in very tiny type: 70m.