wet vs. dry ??

[Michael Plunkett]

I’m the new owner of a brand new Canon GL-2 and, of course, all the talk about tape mechanism failure has put a dark cloud directly over my head. I have been reading up on the various tapes and their consequences. My guess is to stick with a single brand of tape and find another source to re-wind and capture. I will be using the ZR-200 for that.
I see that some tapes can b e classified as wet or dry. Which tapes fall into which catagory and is there a good reason to use one over the other? I have only used Fuji in the GL-2 and a Maxell in the ZR-200. But the ZR will do the GL-2 capture so I want to stay consistent.

[Steven Davis]

My opinion is that you should stick with one tape brand/type period. Unless you're needing a different format of tape, I would just stick with one brand. I use the Maxell Red tapes. I've had good success with them. I also own a Canon GL2 and haven't had but one tape fail.

On this board there are a ton of tape discussions but most of them will tell you to stay consistent with a brand of tape.

Congrats on the GL2, I love mine.

[Michael Plunkett]

Originally Posted by Steven Davis

My opinion is that you should stick with one tape brand/type period. Unless you're needing a different format of tape, I would just stick with one brand. I use the Maxell Red tapes. I've had good success with them. I also own a Canon GL2 and haven't had but one tape fail.

On this board there are a ton of tape discussions but most of them will tell you to stay consistent with a brand of tape.

Congrats on the GL2, I love mine.

Thanks- I have been going over all the old posts on the subject- so much- so little- LOL. I have an important assignment next week in Atlanta and will be running the camera pretty heavy for at least three days. I want to make good decisions from the start on anything I have control of and tape selection will be the first. I am leaning on staying with the Maxell 60SE and perhaps one of the panasonics. I need to be able to buy a decent tape from a walmart/circut city/Best Buy, etc. Thanks for the imput.

[Steven Davis]

The red ones I use come from Samsclub 8 fo 22 bucks. I know that's less than 4 bucks a shot. You can go to Samsclub.com and find them listed.

[Michael Plunkett]

I noticed that both Panasonic and Maxell use these words on the back packaging to described tape coating of the two products: “Metal Evaporation technology” Panasonic technology according to them. My guess Panny produces the Maxell?? The Sony tape says ‘Diamond like Carbon” coating. Confused- hahahah evaporation sounds wet and diamond like carbon kinda dry. Anyhow, I decided to stick with the Maxell DVM60, which I can get at Sam’s (thanks Steve) and the Panasonic AY-DVM63PQ which I will order online in bulk. TapeStockonline??

[David Ennis]

Hypothesis 1: Switching tape brands increases the frequency of cam failure.
Hypothesis 2: Switching tape brands has no effect on the frequency of cam failure.

As far as I know, there is no convicing theory underlying either hypothesis, and neither has been tested scientifically.

[Michael Plunkett]

Originally Posted by Fred Retread

Hypothesis 1: Switching tape brands increases the frequency of cam failure.
Hypothesis 2: Switching tape brands has no effect on the frequency of cam failure.

As far as I know, there is no convicing theory underlying either hypothesis, and neither has been tested scientifically.

Fred:

I spoke to the folks at VideoSmith in Philadelphia who when questioned about tape brands and switching, heard of no ill effects in doing it or not. They did say an occasioanl cleaning is a good thing and to buy a professional quality tape if you want to re-use it often. They were unaware of what ‘wet or dry’ problems are. .

They are an authorized canon dealer so....for what it is worth.... they never heard of the tape mechanism problems of the GL-2 as posted on this forum.