What to do

Mathieu Ghekiere · May 27th, 2006, 05:32 AM

Hi,

I use my XL1s for about 1.5 years for short movies, and I always used Sony Exellence DV tapes. Never had many problems, exept for maybe a few dropouts on around 20 tapes.
A partner of me rolled another brand of tape in it, without me knowing it, for about 7 minutes.

I planned to roll a head cleaner (Sony...?) in it, and maybe after that, switch from brand, because the sony exellence tapes are pretty expensive (25 euros for 3 tapes)... Would I have problems? Any advice on what to do, or maybe to which tape to switch over, that are a bit cheaper but still good? I was thinking TDK, because I used them in my inexpensive dv camcorder a couple of years ago, and never had problems, and they are much cheaper...

Thank you,

ps: if I could get a pretty quick answer, that would be nice, because I'm planning to buy tapes today for a shoot monday... Thanks,

EDIT: I bought TDK tapes... we'll see how things go monday...

Mike Meyerson · June 2nd, 2006, 12:11 PM

Rolling 7 minutes of a different brand tape is not going to kill your camera. You shouldn't have any problems. Run the cleaning tape for 10 seconds and switch over to the TDK's if you can get those cheaper.

Also another trick to keep your heads clean is to "Pack" the tape. If time allows, when putting in a new tape, FF it to the end, then RW it back to the beginning before you record on it.

Mike Teutsch · June 2nd, 2006, 12:22 PM

Mathieu,

You shouldn't have any problems, just clean the heads as Mr. Meyerson said.

I have been using the Sony Premium tapes, that I buy on ebay for less than $3.00 each and have never had a single dropout. Short of having a dropout, which I have never had, they all record exactly the same image.

Mike

Mathieu Ghekiere · June 2nd, 2006, 03:32 PM

Hi,

Thanks for the responses: I let a tape cleaner from Sony roll through it and went over to using TDK tapes. 3 Tapes so far, no problems.

Thanks for the reactions,

May 27th, 2006, 05:32 AM	#1
Mathieu Ghekiere Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Belgium Posts: 2,195	What to do - Will I have problems...? Hi, I use my XL1s for about 1.5 years for short movies, and I always used Sony Exellence DV tapes. Never had many problems, exept for maybe a few dropouts on around 20 tapes. A partner of me rolled another brand of tape in it, without me knowing it, for about 7 minutes. I planned to roll a head cleaner (Sony...?) in it, and maybe after that, switch from brand, because the sony exellence tapes are pretty expensive (25 euros for 3 tapes)... Would I have problems? Any advice on what to do, or maybe to which tape to switch over, that are a bit cheaper but still good? I was thinking TDK, because I used them in my inexpensive dv camcorder a couple of years ago, and never had problems, and they are much cheaper... Thank you, ps: if I could get a pretty quick answer, that would be nice, because I'm planning to buy tapes today for a shoot monday... Thanks, EDIT: I bought TDK tapes... we'll see how things go monday... __________________ http://productionsofthe3rdkind.com http://pr3k.com Last edited by Mathieu Ghekiere; May 27th, 2006 at 10:32 AM.

June 2nd, 2006, 12:22 PM	#3
Mike Teutsch Inner Circle Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Port St. Lucie, Florida Posts: 2,614	Mathieu, You shouldn't have any problems, just clean the heads as Mr. Meyerson said. I have been using the Sony Premium tapes, that I buy on ebay for less than $3.00 each and have never had a single dropout. Short of having a dropout, which I have never had, they all record exactly the same image. Mike __________________ Chapter one, line one. The BH.

June 2nd, 2006, 03:32 PM	#4
Mathieu Ghekiere Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Belgium Posts: 2,195	Hi, Thanks for the responses: I let a tape cleaner from Sony roll through it and went over to using TDK tapes. 3 Tapes so far, no problems. Thanks for the reactions, __________________ http://productionsofthe3rdkind.com http://pr3k.com

June 2nd, 2006, 12:11 PM	#2
Mike Meyerson Major Player Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: mahopac, NY Posts: 293	Rolling 7 minutes of a different brand tape is not going to kill your camera. You shouldn't have any problems. Run the cleaning tape for 10 seconds and switch over to the TDK's if you can get those cheaper. Also another trick to keep your heads clean is to "Pack" the tape. If time allows, when putting in a new tape, FF it to the end, then RW it back to the beginning before you record on it.