Best tape to use???

P

PhilaFireFilms

Member
I have always used a Betacam 300a most of the time I have been in business.
I do mostly local news, national news, and work with several national television shows. I will be putting five documentaries together.

I no longer have my Betacam 300a and have ordered a DVx-100b, I am excited about this camera, hearing and seeing so many good things about it.

What is the best tape to use when using this camera.
Thanks for the help....


Jim Bonner
Owner
Philadelphia Fire Films/James A Bonner Productions
 
Use These

Use These

239998.jpg


Panasonic AY-DVM63MQ
Use these, and you'll be fine.
 
Yeah, forgot to mention that I use PQ's as well. PQ's and MQ's. 63 minutes. That's it.

But Jim, if you are new to shooting with a DVX it's important to mention that you should stick with one brand of tapes (recommended: Panasonic) and use them only. Due to the variances of wet/dry lubrication on different brands of tapes, it can screw up the heads of your DVX by mixing tapes. Wet + Dry = Mud.

Just do some research on this site, there's plenty of info on it, and explained much better than I ever could.
 
Uh-ohh.... I think I made a big boo-boo... I have been playing with my DVX100b using the master tape pictured above, and recently put in a cheaper Fuji tape (- 6 for $16 from BJ's Wholesale Club -)... Now I'm realizing that the Fuji tape is WET and the Panasonic is DRY...

How many passes with a head cleaner do I need to make to remove the residue?

And, does this mean I can't switch back and forth in the future?

ANY RESPONSE will be greatly appreciated!

The camera only has about 20-25 hours on it, I got it Sept. 18th so it's still kind of new.

Matt
 
Impossible said:
Uh-ohh.... I think I made a big boo-boo... I have been playing with my DVX100b using the master tape pictured above, and recently put in a cheaper Fuji tape (- 6 for $16 from BJ's Wholesale Club -)... Now I'm realizing that the Fuji tape is WET and the Panasonic is DRY...

How many passes with a head cleaner do I need to make to remove the residue?

And, does this mean I can't switch back and forth in the future?

ANY RESPONSE will be greatly appreciated!

The camera only has about 20-25 hours on it, I got it Sept. 18th so it's still kind of new.

Matt
Click to expand...


It's not going to ruin your camera or anything just because you used a different tape. It's just a general rule of thumb to try to stick to one brand/type.

A company I used to work for used every brand of tape, and kind, you can think of, and his camera's have been working just fine for over two years.
 
Yeah Impossible, I would NOT go crazy with the head cleaner either. I think it's bad for the heads to run it more than once in a short span of time.

There's a sticky on cleaning heads that you should check out. I agree with rcbrown. It's not gonna ruin your camera, but it's a good rule of thumb to stick with one brand of tapes.
 
Thanks RCBROWN & DEEPFOCUS...

Thanks for the quick response!

I'll make a point of looking for the sticky too...

There's so much info I've learned on here, that rarely one gets for free. And honestly, I wouldn't even know where to look to even buy it without having to enroll in classes some place....

Much appreciation -

Cocktails for everyone!
Matt
 
How much difference is there in image quality using those tapes compared to the panasonic comsumer tapes?
 
griffin said:
How much difference is there in image quality using those tapes compared to the panasonic comsumer tapes?
Click to expand...
I was gonna ask something similar - i dont expect there's ANY quality difference between any tapes since it's digital, but i did want to know if there's anything "bad" about using consumer tapes.

from my understanding, the pq/mq tapes are better cause they're more durable so you can re-record on them many times.. id i'm going to be mostly doing 1 recording per tape - does it really matter if I use consumer tape?
 
FiddlerMD said:
I was gonna ask something similar - i dont expect there's ANY quality difference between any tapes since it's digital, but i did want to know if there's anything "bad" about using consumer tapes.

from my understanding, the pq/mq tapes are better cause they're more durable so you can re-record on them many times.. id i'm going to be mostly doing 1 recording per tape - does it really matter if I use consumer tape?
Click to expand...



According to the manual Panny is suggesting PQ or MQ tapes only and when you have paid at or nearly $3,000.00 dollars for a camera what is another dollar over the consumer price for a tape. As in my earlier post through Amazon the MQ tapes are only $3.75 each I've paid more than that for consumer brand tapes.


Best,

Rob
 
Whzkid said:
According to the manual Panny is suggesting PQ or MQ tapes only and when you have paid at or nearly $3,000.00 dollars for a camera what is another dollar over the consumer price for a tape. As in my earlier post through Amazon the MQ tapes are only $3.75 each I've paid more than that for consumer brand tapes.


Best,

Rob
Click to expand...
That may be true but it still doesn't answer the question. I don't like the reasoning of 'well it says so in the manual' ... of course it does. i'm sure sony recommends sony tapes and things like the VX recommend the pro sony tapes etc .. if they can make an extra buck, why not - but it still doesnt answer the question of whether it actually makes any bit of difference
 
Sony tapes use the WET lube technology on their tape stock and Panasonic uses the DRY technology. If you wish to use a non supported brand and different tape technology on a $3,000.00 Cam then go for it. They would not suggest those types if they had not already tested them. And YES it makes a difference.

Best,

Rob
 
Watch your head!

Watch your head!

Panasonic designed the heads on your camera, it stands to reason they designed the tape to be the perfect compliment to that.

I use sony tapes on sony cameras, and Panny tapes of Panny cameras.

The only time I've had head clog was with Fuji tapes on a sony camera.

Techs have often told me the best way to reduce head wear and clogs is to stick with the brand of tape from the company that made the camera.

Half my neighbourhood burned down once and I missed it because my Sony was in getting new heads. Never again. (I'd put that down to age, but anything I can do to avoid that happening again, I do)

And yeah, it's cheaper to buy pro tapes in bulk than mystery tapes at walmart.
 
haha, do you think it would piss off the amazon people if one were to buy ten individual tapes @ 3.75 each rather than buying a ten pack for 40? Is that too much hassle to save 2.50? I've got my amazon prime trial membership so free 2 day shipping.
 
its cheaper to get the 10 pack since shipping is 10$ instead of $20...

epsilonbass said:
haha, do you think it would piss off the amazon people if one were to buy ten individual tapes @ 3.75 each rather than buying a ten pack for 40? Is that too much hassle to save 2.50? I've got my amazon prime trial membership so free 2 day shipping.
Click to expand...
 
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