are there any scientific evidence that one brand/type of miniDV tape is better all?

[Yi Fong Yu]

just finished reading/browsing through this long black line and haven't really found any specific links with claims to sony, panny, fuji, tdk, maxwell, etc. which one is better and which isn't. it's all coming out of experience, which is saying something i suppose but i'm not too sure as it doesn't get too specific either. i'm just wondering if (example) panasonic's master series of mini DVs is better than their pro or regular. is 60min better or 80min better? are there scientific links to which is better?

i am using sony's 80min (red plastic coverings) mini DV tapes. i think it is chipless.

[Graham Jones]

The image you get should be identical from brand to brand - as it is purely digital information being stored.

It seems the only potential considerations are physical ones. There has been talk of different lubricants clashing when switching between brands and the need to stick to just one. Then someone else said that if you change tapes regularly enough you cancel out that problem anyway..

My recent personal choice was to buy JVC PRO rather than JVC 'REGULAR' - because I thought there was a small chance the former would be more robust and last longer - just in physical terms.

Then you have people saying JVC tapes are awful...

[Darko Flajpan]

My suggestion would be that you should try to avoid 80 min tapes, beacause i have some bad experience with those. I think the tape inside 80's are thinner, so it is more likely that you will have dropouts. Anyway, I learned from here that the best way is to choose one brand and stick to it, whichever brand is.... personally i use Fuji tapes and they never let me down.

[Yi Fong Yu]

darko,

but if you only use the 80min tapes only once (for record) shouldn't it be ok? i mean if you reuse it... a 60min is probably better.

[Jesse Bekas]

It seems many people have problems reviewing the 80 minute tapes, similarly to reviewing tapes recorded in LP mode. The problem is different, but the result is the same (dropouts, etc...).

[Graham Jones]

80 min tapes used once are of course less likely to cause problems than 80 min tapes used repeatedly - but this shouldn't obscure the fact that 80 min tapes are riskier than 60 min tapes.

Ultimately, it depends whether the risk outweighs your need for 80 min tapes... depends how important the material is.

I personally would avoid it.

[Darko Flajpan]

Well, i bought 80 min. Panasonic tape, to have just in case. First time i used that tape i had 3 dropouts, and it was a concert shooting, bad luck. Anyway B-roll camera saved the day. So i am not sure i'll be use 80 mins anymore. But, that's only my oppinion.

[Yi Fong Yu]

really? is it really that bad? i just bought myself 10 PCS 80min tapes.... should i stick to 60min in the future? i just think that extra 20min in SP mode is really nice... but apparently a lot of ya'll have problems eh?

[Graham Jones]

If it's not critical and simply a question of your having already purchased ten of the things you can comfort yourself with the fact that Mini DV is, in general, rather a stable format... but in future opt for arguably more stable 60 min tapes.

If it is critical, bite the bullet and give the tapes to someone shooting domestic stuff I guess.

[Jacques Mersereau]

If you put an 80 minute tape into the miniDV adapter of a DVCPro deck
and try to use it the tape will break.

Much like LP mode when recording on a normal miniDV,
you are taking some risk imo. But _sometimes_ that risk has to be taken
when the show is just over an hour and you cannot change tapes and
you cannot firewire out to a deck that supports longer recording times.

[Yi Fong Yu]

thx i'll keep that in mind. most of my stuff are short movies so 60min is fine as we do short takes/scenes anyway. thx 4 advice. was just thinkin about saving physical number of tapes to swap out during transfer.

[Jacques Mersereau]

Believe me Yi, if the 80 minute tapes worked as well as the 60s
I'd buy them. Maybe some day they will,