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MiniDV Tapes

M

Mattaut

macrumors regular
Original poster
What are some good brands of miniDV tapes? Has anyone used a few different kinds of tapes and prefer one over the rest? Any info on quality of miniDV tapes would be appreciated.
 
I've had good luck over the years with Sony and JVC. Of the two, Sony tapes seem a little more durable.
 
I second sony. I have used sony tapes for years and they seem to last and last without any (noticeable) deterioration in picture quality. I have re-recorded on them at least 30 to 50 times and they are all working perfectly.
 
Sony Premium tapes we've used for years and they've never given us any problems. Even though they're named premium though, on sites like Amazon and such they're very cheap if you buy them in bulk.
 
Sony uses wet lubricant on their tapes, Panasonic uses dry lubricant. Neither is flat out better, but when you start with one never use the other.

I've always used Panasonic Master Quality tapes for my projects. I would not recommend re-recording on any miniDV tapes. They are so cheap it isn't really worth it. Plus they are great for archiving a backup of your project.
 
bigbossbmb said:
Sony uses wet lubricant on their tapes, Panasonic uses dry lubricant. Neither is flat out better, but when you start with one never use the other.
Click to expand...

Uh oh. I started with Panasonic and had to buy Sony tapes because a wedding was the next day and they were out of stock of Panasonic tapes.

Someone told me that you should run a head cleaner tape when you switch brands. Is this true? So I bought one but the instructions say to run it ONLY if something's wrong, and right now there isn't anything wrong.
 
The dry/wet lub problem is a thing of the past (the companies have used compatible lubricants for years now) and only became a possible issue if you used one type extensively, never cleaned your camera so build up occurred and then used the other type. You also shouldn't over do it w/cleaning tapes as a cleaning tape is abrasive and excessive use will damage your camera's heads.


Lethal
 
Depends On The Purpose.
Professionally, We Use Only Sony High End Tapes, And Only Once. We Never Re Use Tape Stock.

For Personal Use, eg Just Messing Around Stuff, I Am Fine With Anything Really, Never Had Much Problems With Any Brands Such As BASF, TDK, Panasonic, etc. For Archive Stuff Such As Friends Weddings Or Memories I Want To Cherish For A Long Time I Prefer Using Sony Premium Tapes - Though Nothing Bad Has Ever Happened With Normal Tapes, I Use These Just In Case.

There Is Talk That When Shooting HDV On MiniDV You Should Only Use The Special HD Grade Tape Stock, But Fortunately Since A While I Have Been Fine Using The Previously Mentioned Sony Premium Brand Tapes.

Hope This Helps 🙂
 
LethalWolfe said:
The dry/wet lub problem is a thing of the past (the companies have used compatible lubricants for years now)
Click to expand...
Yes, I was going to say that it was certainly a potential problem in the early days of DV, but became a non-issue the best part of 10 years ago! I've been running different brands of mini-DV tape (mostly Sony, Panasonic and Maxell) in the same camcorder for years and have never had a problem.
 
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