HDV Tape

[mjlamoore]

Hi Everybody,
I am new to this forum and would like to ask if anybody can give guidance on the new HDV tape stock. I have just upgraded two of my Sony PD170 to the new Sony HDR-FX1E (this unit is not HDVCAM) I have a lot of new DVCAM tape stock, I know that they work in the new cameras, but have read a report that Sony have now brought out a dedicated tape for this camera, can anybody advise if the old tapes are worth keeping and will not, long term damage the units. I have tried to get in touch with Sony but have had no reply.
Michael

[johnpr98]

Hi Michael

This thread may be of interest:
http://www.dvdoctor.net/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=003294#000003

btw I've had 2 ½ second dropouts using cheap Sony tape with my FX1, one was retrievable on a recapture, one wasn't. (First tape 10 mins, second tape 3 minutes)

The better the grade of tape, the less chance of a dropout, maybe?

Regards

John

[tom hardwick]

You certainly won't damage your FX1 by running any tape through it Michael - though I'd advise against running any spliced or crinkled tape, or head cleaners for more than 10 seconds.

Sony have indeed bought out a £9 tape but in your shoes I'd continue to use your new stock untill (if) you find it causes problems.

tom.

[Chrissi]

Sorry for diverting the discussion a little bit.

I have a dsr-250 and primarily use to to record dv format. Am I doing something wrong to use panasonic minidv tapes?

Chris

[DAVE M]

I did see an article, maybe in an APR catalogue, or a free issue of the IOV mag, where a bloke from Sony was stressing that the HD tapes weren't just miniDV with a bump in price. He insisted that they were needed to maintain the superior picture.

Chrissi - I use a PD150 and DSR25 among other pannasonic cameras and nearly always stick to Pannasonic AY-DVM63PQ tapes with maybe a 10% mix of Sony and JVC (Costco) I've had a couple of headclogs and wouldn't now use anything but Pannis for important stuff.

[Chrissi]

Thank you dave..

Do you record in dv or dvcam with the sony pd150 and dsr25?

Chris

[Alan McKeown]

Quote:* ** ** ** * * ** **
“I did see an article.... where a bloke from Sony was stressing that the HD tapes.... were needed to maintain the superior picture.”

The HDV tapes should result in a lower probability of errors and a lower probability of dropouts, which is particularly important for HDV. If that is what is implied by “maintaining a superior picture”, fair enough. But the tape quality does not affect the actual picture quality in any other way.

I’ve got a couple of these PHDVM-63DM tapes.
I just need an FX-1 camcorder to fit around them. smile.gif


Alan

[DAVE M]

I record in DVCam for important stuff, DV for the less important. This is basic laziness, so I don't have to fiddle with the PD's menu too much.

The choice is also determined by content length - ie can I change tapes at 40 mins.

[mjlamoore]

Many thanks for all your comments
Michael

[Unicorn]

Can the Z1 record HDV at DVCAM speed (i.e. 40 minutes per tape rather than 60 minutes)? If so, that would seem to eliminate some of the need for better tapes to reduce dropouts.

[tom hardwick]

No, the Z1 records the MPEG2 HDV footage only at one speed - the equivalent of Mini DV SP.

[Unicorn]

Guess they realised they'd lose a lot of money on tape sales if they had an HDVCAM mode smile.gif .