XHA1 tape question

[dotman]

I bought the xha1 so i could shoot hdv if I needed. but most of my day job projects will be in dv, and my coworker uses a simple pana 250. i want to be able to hand her tape when I've involved. can the 250 read the mini hdv tape? I'm guessing if I shoot in HDV, no. but if i shoot in DV, will she be able to capture using the 250. Is this correct?

If i did shoot in hdv, I would have to downconvert and capture for her project i'm guessing.

Which makes me wonder if I should just use the same tape as her (pana dvm60), and not compromise the heads by mixing brands, or go with a higher quality hdv tape. I don't want drop outs or to compromise my investment. thanks for any thoughts.

dot.

[Huy Vu]

In theory, any mini-dv camera should work. But in reality, I've found that only another Canon camera can read DV materials from a Canon. I've tried capturing DV material from the A1 using a Sony and then a JVC camera. The tape will not run smoothly, the capture will start and stop and the sound is completely messed up. Works fine though when using just another cheap Canon cam. So my advice is to test it out.

[dotman]

thanks jade. i'm stuck on a brand of tape. i bought the sony hdv tapes thinking that would be best for my cam, but then i wasn't thinkin of working with others who use sd. maybe I'll just have to capture for them unless you have another idea. and yes, i will test it. JOC, what tapes do you use for your xha1?

[Huy Vu]

I use the Sony HDV ones although I'm seriously considering running a head cleaner and switching to the cheaper Pana tapes. Nothing against the Sony ones, they work fine, it's just that they're really expensive and tough to get.

[dotman]

Wll I've purposely have held off on shooting becasue I need to make up my mind. When you say the cheaper pana tapes, are you refering to their hdv tapes, or minidv? And if you do, which model of tape are you thinking of going with? Thanks again.

[H2OFL1020]

"In theory, any mini-dv camera should work. But in reality, I've found that only another Canon camera can read DV materials from a Canon. I've tried capturing DV material from the A1 using a Sony and then a JVC camera. The tape will not run smoothly, the capture will start and stop and the sound is completely messed up. Works fine though when using just another cheap Canon cam. So my advice is to test it out." -Huy VU

Are you saying that regardless of what format you shoot in, the DV tape that you use to capture with can only be viewed and played back using another Canon cam??? I apologize in advance if I have mis-interpreted what you have said, but this is suprising to me.

[Huy Vu]

Are you saying that regardless of what format you shoot in, the DV tape that you use to capture with can only be viewed and played back using another Canon cam??? I apologize in advance if I have mis-interpreted what you have said, but this is suprising to me.

Essentially, yes. In theory, this shouldn't be possible, but in practice I've found that this is indeed true. I shoot concerts in DV mode on a regular basis, and if I try to capture this material on a non Canon camera, visual and audio hiccups occur regularly, and the capture process will start and stop. And I tried this with two different cameras, one from Sony and the other from JVC. Capture the same tape using the A1 or another Canon mini-DV cam works just fine. Apparently this used to happen with the XL1 as well, where the tape head is just so slightly misalign so that camera from other companies can't read it.