THE tape info thread

[cgbier]

Camera doesn't matter. Mine go through 3 different cameras and a deck.

[chico_stang]

Ok, thanks for the help guys. Anyway, last night I had no problems during the event using the Sony tapes. I guess all went okay. I will know for sure once I capture the footage.

[chico_stang]

Update for you guys: Just finished capturing the footage. Out of 5 tapes I only encountered 1 dropout. I'm glad the Sony Premium tapes worked fine... The question now is: should I switch? Already ordered the Sony miniDV head cleaner. Should be here by the end of the week.

[cgbier]

1 dropout with 5 tapes is not really something to be proud about. But it shows that your heads need cleaning.

[chico_stang]

1 dropout with 5 tapes is not really something to be proud about. But it shows that your heads need cleaning.

I am not proud of that, but I am happy that I did not have major problems after reading "horror" stories online that some people have experienced. And yes, the heads need cleaning. Never done so. I will do it as soon as I receive the head cleaner.

[Janke]

For me, Sony works - one dropout in 70 tapes, not 1 in 5. Clean your heads!

[chico_stang]

For me, Sony works - one dropout in 70 tapes, not 1 in 5. Clean your heads!

I think I am going to swtich to Sony tapes. But the thing is last week I ordered a pack of 8 Maxell tapes to use this saturday on a wedding... Since last saturday I used Sony tapes, what should I do? Clean the heads, use the Maxell tapes on the wedding, then clean the heads and from then on use Sony tapes? If I knew I had to use Sony tapes this past saturday I would not have ordered the Maxell tapes.

[Janke]

Tape is tape. Clean heads after 10 hours. Hakuna Matata!

[chico_stang]

Update: It seems there were no dropouts at all. The problem was during capture. So in 5 tapes there was no dropouts! Excellent.

[cgbier]

That's the spirit.

[chico_stang]

Got the head cleaner today. Time to clean the heads! :-)

[DiViD]

The moment when you realise you've accidentally taped over unsaved footage.... I will forever now use the "Save Switch"

[darthpaully]

Time to clean the heads! :-)

Yeah, me too!! Does anybody have any suggestions on head cleaner? I'm being lazy today bec ause of these ridiculous allergies!!

[DiViD]

I bought a pack of 5 Sony Mini DV tapes and it came with a head cleaning cassette (DVM-4CLD)

[calphoto]

I bought a pack of 5 Sony Mini DV tapes and it came with a head cleaning cassette (DVM-4CLD)

The cleaning tapes clean the head by rubbing off the previous tape residues, so all dry cleaning tapes are abrasive. Frequent preventive cleaning will wear off the head so I use it only when it is absolutely necessary.

[EvilBastardProductions]

Hi all. After spending the last few of hours in this thread, and searching around on the net, I found this:

http://pro.sony.com/bbsccms/assets/f...dvtapelube.pdf

I skipped a fair chunk of this thread, so for all I know it may have already been posted, but if not here it is.

Some key points from the article:

"As a raw material, the lubricant is supplied to manufacturing in either liquid or powder form. In the liquid form, it can
immediately be introduced into the ME manufacturing process. In the powder form, it must be mixed with a solvent prior to use in manufacturing. Lubricant in these two forms is what has given rise to the common reference ‘wet’ (liquid) and ‘dry’ (powder) lubricant. Regardless of whether the lubricant, in its raw state, is a liquid or a powder; it is always applied to the surface of the tape as a liquid."

"The perception that mixing brands of tape will ‘ruin your heads’ dates back decades when a new acquisition
format, designed for use with metal particle tape, was
marketed by the manufacturer as being compatible with metal evaporated tape. Unfortunately the manufacturer did not take into account the lower tension specification required for ME tape compared to MP tape. As a result, the lack of compatibility quickly became evident as complaints of head clogs began to be reported when users began
running ME tape in equipment designed for MP tape.
Subsequently, the mixing of tape brands became the
quick diagnosis for most head clogs even in cases where different brands of only ME tape were being used."

"Sony engineers have determined that there is no direct link between head clogs and the type of lubricant being used."

"Conclusion
Hard evidence of this phenomenon has been hard to come by for as long as metal evaporated tape formats have been in existence. The perpetuation of this controversy, based solely on hearsay, is misleading to end users. Sony
has done a significant amount of internal testing to simulate head clogs as a result of mixing tape lubricants, and has been unable to recreate the ‘problem’. The fact is, mixing different brands of tape should cause you no problem, especially if your machine is properly maintained.
All tape manufacturers are required to produce tapes according to the DVC format specification to ensure compatibility in DVC hardware. It would not be in their best interest to not be compatible, as that would compromise the
reliability of the format. Additionally, the inference that one brand of tape should be used over another because one causes head clogs and the other does not, is just not the case. But, if you are still skeptical, clean your heads with a format-specific cleaning cassette before trying another brand of tape.
If you have evidence that mixing different brands of tape is the sole reason for your head clog, please contact Sony via your supplier to arrange for a chemical analysis of the material on your heads."

Again, if this has already been found, I apologize for the repost, If not, well here is your answer people!

Regards,
-Ando

[Janke]

Yes, we saw that about two years ago, when it was published by Sony. Problem is, some people just don't want to believe it...

[Paspie]

I have a Q for you all,

I have heard that mixing wet and dry tapes on the same MiniDV camcorder without using a head cleaner can cause the heads to gunk up and cause lots of dropouts in the future.

However, was this a statement just made for the recording heads? I want to re-import some of the old footage I made with my old camcorder. I used Sony Premium tapes in that, and I need to know if it would be safe to replay them back in my Canon HV40 while capturing them to my PC (I have only used standard Panasonic tapes in my Canon for recording and playback so far). Would I get better quality? Or would the gunking up just be the same story as the recording heads?

Thanks for suggestions.

[Karel Bata]

Once upon a time, allegedly, there were wet and dry tapes. Now they're all the same. I think dry. Not certain, but it doesn't matter. I did some asking around about this a while back and posted the results earlier in this thread if you really wanted to know. Or read post 416 above.

BTW HDV tapes and DV tapes are the same. Yup. No difference. Just the label. So buy a good quality DV tape and don't waste your money. I use TDK, which happen to be cheap too.

And if what you're shooting is important, then DON'T re-use tapes. DV tapes are cheap. HDV are not any more hard wearing - despite the fact that you're paying more so you might think they should be.

Merry Christmas!

[Paspie]

Thanks, I've just tried (at least it's still under warranty), and it seems to be working just fine!

Merry Christmas to you too!