which is the best minidv for this camera???

[ILCORVO]

Hello everybody,

Can you tell me the best minidv for this camera?

Can I use normal mindv or i need hd-ones for the best results? Which brand do you suggest???

Thank you in advance.
bye
:hv20-smilie77:

il corvo

[palvik]

Canon recomends to use HD MiniDv tapes (see user manual). I have used both HD and normal SD tapes - I did't find difference at all. May be HD tape will be better if you reuse the same tape many times...

[SenorKaffee]

I use cheap Sony Premium DV. The shop I ordered from had a bundle price with the HV20 at that time. I´m not sure it makes so much difference.
In the end, it can only affect the dropout rate, not the image quality.

[Peter Galbavy]

I use TDK DV tapes bought in boxes of ten. No problems yet - but I have only had the HV20 a week.

[white_2kgt]

I've ran a bunch of Maxell DV Tapes from Sams Club through my HV20, Vegas has never reported a dropped frame and I reuse my tapes as well.

[JoeInBH]

I use the cheap Panasonic DV tapes with no problems to report as yet. The old conventional wisdom had always been to pick one brand of tape and stick with it, since different lubricants could react and gum up the heads. Don't know if that's true anymore, but just in case, I'd pick a brand of tape widely available in your area and stick with it.

[Don]

I agree with Chad (White_2kgt) about the Sam's Club Maxell DVM60SE tapes. So far they have worked flawlessly for me.
-Don in Sacramento

[DaFireMedic]

I use TDK DV tapes bought in boxes of ten. No problems yet - but I have only had the HV20 a week.


Yep, me too. I buy them at Costco, no problems so far.

[joe12south]

DV and HDV are the exact same data rate. Any reputable quality tape will record exactly the same bits. Using the same brand consistently when alleviate head problems caused by mixing formulations. (tape uses lubricants)

[wolferic]

I use the cheap Panasonic DV tapes with no problems to report as yet. The old conventional wisdom had always been to pick one brand of tape and stick with it, since different lubricants could react and gum up the heads. Don't know if that's true anymore, but just in case, I'd pick a brand of tape widely available in your area and stick with it.

Excellent advice. I have been using Sony's cheap 'Premium' tapes for DV and DVCAM for several years and haven't ever noticed a dropout … EXCEPT when I borrowed a rental camera with dirty heads (which could have had any number/brand of tapes pass through it). One pass with a head cleaning tape and I was back in business: rerecorded over the same tape without a single problem.

One question though: there seems to be some confusion between 'drop-outs' and 'dropped frames:'
-Drop-outs are blocky spots recoded onto tape which will always appear in the same place when played back.
-Dropped frames are a problem caused during digital capture. Sometimes software reports dropped frames and then when you try to recapture the same footage and you get a report of no dropped frames.

My question is does anyone know if tape quality/brand can have any effect on 'dropped frames' (as opposed to drop-outs)? My guess is no, but I haven't seen any real info about this…

[24Peter]

One question though: there seems to be some confusion between 'drop-outs' and 'dropped frames:'
-Drop-outs are blocky spots recoded onto tape which will always appear in the same place when played back.
-Dropped frames are a problem caused during digital capture.

A DV dropout is what you describe. For HDV, dropouts result in losing frames (15 frames due to long GOP compression used in HDV recording.) So... clean heads rather than which particular tape you're using, seems to be the answer in terms of avoiding data loss on HDV recordings from the HV20.

[tvnewsbadge]

Maxell DV Tapes from Sams Club also... never had a problem. Strange because we went P2 at work, we'd avoid Maxell like the plague.

[Omega]

I usually use Panasonic tapes (but DV not HD) since they were highly recommended by pro camera rental places in London a few years ago. And I used them on my old DV camera. I've had no problems after about a year with the HV30.

I did use some Sony DV (not HD) tapes from the local convenience store (the only brand they had) and got dropouts a couple of times.

[Janke]

Some years ago I used Maxell in a MiniDV SD cameras. One of the tapes got stuck when ejecting - don't know the reason, but I haven't used Maxell since.

Once, I had a serious head clogging (several scenes, but disappeared after a rewind), after changing from TDK & Sony to Fuji.

Did a head cleaning, and having used Sony Premium exclusively after that, no more clogging or dropouts.

But remember: YMMV !