Tape Care

[JoeInBH]

The manual says to rewind the tape and remove it from the camcorder after each use. This also seems to be the conventional wisdom among users I've seen on this and other boards. Maybe I'm misunderstanding something, but that sounds like a waste of time and unnecessary wear on the tape (and camcorder) if you're going to be using it again relatively shortly.

The HV20 is my first camcorder and I'm using it for lots more than recording long events. As I see interesting things in my daily life, I'll whip it out and grab 10-30 seconds of footage that someday may be useful stock footage for a project. I'll also grab snippets of life around the house - basically using it to take "video snapshots" of the family, the dog, etc. One fun project I actually did plan out took me most of the day to record, but I was grabbing short clips one at a time. With this sort of casual, impromtu usage, are we really expected to rewind the tape, simply to bring it back with fast forward 15 minutes later?! What if you're grabbing 5 minutes of footage a day? Rewind each time? Am I really doing any harm if I left the tape, for several days even, in position to immediately record?

If tapes are a contact medium, is it really a good idea to rewind and end search it 50 times before you're done with it and go to capture onto the computer? Anyone have a compelling reason why I should rewind and remove the tape each time?

[sp8ce07]

I always thought this referred to when the tape was full and completed. Did not take the suggestions as being for after each use.

[Rikki]

Wondered this myself.

Why does it matter which spool the tape sits on inside the cassette?

[JoeInBH]

Sp8ce - Maybe I'm reading it wrong, but on page 92 of the manual, it states:

- Rewind tapes after use. A slack or damaged tape may cause problems and/or audio distortions during playback.

and

- Do not leave the cassette in the camcorder after use.

[PWHerman]

That's just a suggestion...you don't HAVE to do it. Although I'm new to the whole HDV thing, I used a Sony 8mm Camcorder for 10 years (broke last year, finally ; ( - heh), and I never once took out the tape when not using it and left tons of different tapes in different positions in and out of the camcorder. I honestly don't see why you should do any of that, it seems very unnecessary. It might possibly be a little better for reasons unknown, but I personally would not abide by that "suggestion" of theirs.

[CJDaniels]

The reason is because of rare exceptions rather than the rule. One of the big causes of camcorder failure is humidity. To leave a tape in a camera and move it from really hot days to A/C causes immediate moisture build up. Leaving the tape in can cause the tape to stick to the head leaving residue. When the tape is in, it is resting on the head, even when it is off. Also say you carry the camera with you, the is a very slight change that vibrations from a long trip cause slack in the tape to develop leaving a small possibility for crimping or jamming.

In Costa Rica I had a brand new $2k Sony die in the first 4 days of a three week trip cause of high humidity. Nothing I could do would eliminate the error.

[sp8ce07]

*runs to HV20 and removes tape*