DV tapes hard to get?

Bruce Foreman · June 14th, 2010, 09:31 PM

Well, when it is no longer profitable ENOUGH for them, most if not all local stores will simply quit stocking them. That day will come and when it does it will be with little or no warning.

Yes, for awhile miniDV tapes will still be available online until the same thing happens there, when demand falls off enough it will no longer be profitable ENOUGH for the manufacturers to continue making them.

Adam Gold · June 14th, 2010, 10:51 PM

I can't imagine a professional not having enough tapes on hand to handle any job he's likely to get on a moment's notice. I buy the Sony Premiums in cases of 100 online for about two bucks each. When I'm down to my last 20 I order another case, which always arrives well before I run out. I go through 2 or 3 cases a year, and they don't spoil. Even after I go completely tapeless, I'll still keep a few around just in case.

Last time I bought them in a store it was because Costco had the Sony Premiums for about $1.60 each. I did get some funny looks with a cart full of those awful clam-shell blister-packs.

But to the original question, I haven't noticed them disappearing at the stores in my area, but then I haven't looked really hard. Costco always has plenty whenever I'm there, as do Radio Shack, Wal-Mart, Best Buy and even the local outposts of the big drugstore chains (Rite-Aid, Walgreen's, etc,). Might not always be your preferred brand, though.

Andrew Smith · June 15th, 2010, 12:24 AM

You can still buy media for those old fashioned audio cassettes, and even UMatic tapes. Who would have seriously thought that people would still be using that format???

If anything, I think tape will still be around for a very long time, and may even get cheaper still in the way that CD discs have become in the face of the higher capacity DVD discs becoming available.

At worst, my Sony V1U camera has a HDMI output straight from the sensor, bypassing the HDV compression scheme. I can always record from this (or the standard firewire connection) if I need to.

Andrew

June 14th, 2010, 10:51 PM	#17
Adam Gold Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Woodinville, WA USA Posts: 3,467	I can't imagine a professional not having enough tapes on hand to handle any job he's likely to get on a moment's notice. I buy the Sony Premiums in cases of 100 online for about two bucks each. When I'm down to my last 20 I order another case, which always arrives well before I run out. I go through 2 or 3 cases a year, and they don't spoil. Even after I go completely tapeless, I'll still keep a few around just in case. Last time I bought them in a store it was because Costco had the Sony Premiums for about $1.60 each. I did get some funny looks with a cart full of those awful clam-shell blister-packs. But to the original question, I haven't noticed them disappearing at the stores in my area, but then I haven't looked really hard. Costco always has plenty whenever I'm there, as do Radio Shack, Wal-Mart, Best Buy and even the local outposts of the big drugstore chains (Rite-Aid, Walgreen's, etc,). Might not always be your preferred brand, though. __________________ "It can only be attributable to human error... This sort of thing has cropped up before, and it has always been due to human error."

June 14th, 2010, 09:31 PM	#16
Bruce Foreman Trustee Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: San Angelo Texas Posts: 1,518	Well, when it is no longer profitable ENOUGH for them, most if not all local stores will simply quit stocking them. That day will come and when it does it will be with little or no warning. Yes, for awhile miniDV tapes will still be available online until the same thing happens there, when demand falls off enough it will no longer be profitable ENOUGH for the manufacturers to continue making them.

June 15th, 2010, 12:24 AM	#18
Andrew Smith Equal Opportunity Offender Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 3,065	You can still buy media for those old fashioned audio cassettes, and even UMatic tapes. Who would have seriously thought that people would still be using that format??? If anything, I think tape will still be around for a very long time, and may even get cheaper still in the way that CD discs have become in the face of the higher capacity DVD discs becoming available. At worst, my Sony V1U camera has a HDMI output straight from the sensor, bypassing the HDV compression scheme. I can always record from this (or the standard firewire connection) if I need to. Andrew