playback

[Andzei Matsukevits]

I know that its not good to use different tape brands for recording, but what about playback and capture? I use in my camera only sony tapes, but can i capture some TDK or Panasonic tapes which were shot with different camera?

thanks

[Steve House]

Originally Posted by Andzei Matsukevits

I know that its not good to use different tape brands for recording, but what about playback and capture? I use in my camera only sony tapes, but can i capture some TDK or Panasonic tapes which were shot with different camera?

thanks

The problem is the materials, especially lubricants, used in the different brands of tape may not be compatible with one another. Switching brands means that the traces of residual stuff left on the head after contact with the first brand mixes with stuff deposited by the second and they react with each other to produces traces of dirt-trapping goop that can interfere with tape contact and smooth tape motion. Since it's the trace residues left behind that are the culprits and the tape makes the same physical contact with the heads whether you're recording or playing back, I'd try to avoid mixing brands either recording or playing back if possible.

I wonder - does anyone have any feelings on mixing brands of tapes in DV *decks* in contrast to camcorders? I wonder if a desktop deck's mechanism (Sony DSR-11 or JVC-BRDV3000, for example) is more robust than the typical camera's transport so there's less danger of minor head fouling leading to a problem?

[Glenn Chan]

Sony and Maxell supposedly reformulated their tapes in 97 to deal with the lubricant mixing problem. You should be fine capturing off those tapes.