TDK responds regarding "wet" vs "dry" lubricant

S

sinema

Member
TDK technical responded to an email that I sent them asking if their DV tape uses a "wet" or "dry" lubricant.

Here is their response:
---------------------------------------------

Dear Valued TDK Consumer:

First name: nnnnnn
Last Name: nnnnnnn
Telephone: nnnnnnnnn
Email: nnnnnnnnnnnnnn

Product: Camcorder


Question/Comment:
TDK Product #: DVM60ME
Does this digital video cassette tape use a "dry" or "wet" lubricant?


Reply:
The lubricant type is not publically available information at this time, unfortunately. However, if the concern is with mixing lubricant types, that doesn't seem to be an issue anymore (there were reports, very early on, with regards to lubricants mixing together and having some sort of adverse effect; there really wasn't any conclusive proof of that and there really haven't been reports of issues for years).

Thank You
Media Support Department
TDK Electronics Corporation.

---------------------------------------------------
End of response.
Any comments?
 
wait... so... using other tapes like a sony miniDV tape rather then panasonics miniDV tapes wont screw up the camera?
 
Tape is so cheap. $7 for an hour of tape (using Panny AMQ) or $3.50 per hour (using Panny PQ) is such a small expense. There are people on this site who've had problems when they've switched brands without cleaning their heads first. Why risk it to save a couple of dollars per hour?
 
Horsefilms:
Regarding cost: that's not the point. Although I agree with you when it comes to the industrial/commercial level of production.

I just want to know. . .
If "knowledge is power" then "lack of knowledge is weakness".
 
Here's what Adam Wilt says:
Riiped from http://www.adamwilt.com/Tidbits.html
Mixing different brands of tape: In DV's early days, Sony and Panasonic tapes used different lubricants, and if you used one brand a lot and then switched to the other, incompatibilities between the lubricants (which get deposited on heads and tape guides) could cause VTRs to jam up or the heads to clog, sometimes permanently. Supposedly the lubricants were made compatible starting in 1997, but I'm still hearing horror stories about these problems in the summer of 2002.
This is not a DV/DVCAM vs. DVCPRO problem; while many of the people reporting the jams are inserting the occasional DV tape into a DVCPRO transport, many others are seeing the problem in DV and DVCAM equipment, which (high-end DVCAM gear aside) can't play back DVCPRO to begin with. It also happens when other brands of tape are intermingled, not just Sony and Panasonic.
Anecdotal evidence would seem to indicate that the biggest problems occur when one brand of tape is used exclusively for a long time, and then the other brand's tape is used: instant mess! If one switches back and forth between the different tape brands frequently, say, switching between Sony and Panasonic every three or four tapes, the problems don't seem to appear.
Frequent switching apparently prevents a critical mass of one lubricant building up in the transport; switching tapes may clean off accumulations of gunk before they get heavy enough to cause problems. Whether this is really a solution, or if frequent switching only leads to a longer-term buildup of cross-contamination pollution on the tapes themselves, is unknown.
I run about 50% Panasonic DV tapes in my gear, with the remainder being a mix of Sony DV or DVCAM, JVC, and the occasional Fuji. I've never had a problem. It's rare that I run more than four hours on one brand before using the other brand of tape, so that may be a good starting place as to what a safe interchange frequency may be.
Thus there appear to be two general approaches to this problem:

  1. Pick one brand of tape, and “stick” with it (sorry about the pun!). You simply won't see the problem. If any foreign brand of tape comes into your facility, do not put it into your VTR; make a FireWire dub of it onto your chosen tape brand on your machine, using the client's camcorder or VTR as the source deck.
  2. Interchange tape brands frequently, so the gunk from one never builds up a critical mass inside the transport to jam up the other tape when it's inserted. Always clean the heads when changing brands, too.
Problems with tape interchange of this sort seem to be reduced by using a tape cleaner in between the different tapes. Especially in this instance, do not rewind and reuse the cleaning tapes; you'll just be mixing old gunk with new if you do so. Also, do not wait until you've run one pass on the new brand tape and seen blockies or dropouts: using the cleaning tape at this point may only polish the gunks firmly into the heads. Clean the heads before inserting the new tape.
Your results may vary: and if you've had any positive or negative experiences of this sort, I'd like to hear your story...
Click to expand...



Personally I don't mix brands.
 
Ming:
Thanks for that.

Eastside Parkway:
You should see me in "front" of a camera :) the true ham.


Can TDK's response author be trusted for accuracy?
For me, TDK's response was weakened by the author not using a spell checker. Sloppy.

It's still an unsettled issue. I may toss this box of TDK's and just stick with the Panasonic tapes. . . don't know yet.




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i have made bad experiences with tdk tapes.
with a trv900 switching from sony tapes to those from tdk, i had to clean the heads.
also have read warnings using tdk on web, but i do not have a link anymore.
i would not take the risk.
 
Hey
I have an old camera that is useless now because I switched tape brands so often. It is a very real problem and the best thing to do is to stick with one brand.. otherwise you will be paying for cleaning or repairs. I have seen the problem with numerous cameras and numerous brands. What do you think a TDK salesman is going to tell you?
Brian
 
TDK Tapes

TDK Tapes

Speaking purely from personal experience as a college lecturer / technician, I have used TDK Mini DV tapes with our five DVX100a's almost exclusively for quite a few years in a college environment. The cameras are used on a daily basis by media students and have NEVER had a head clean or service since new (over four years ago). We use Sony DSR11s for capturing to FCP (so the cameras are used only for shooting) and again we have never had an issue with the TDK / DSR11 combination. I have read on the forum that many people are afraid of TDKs but we have never had a problem with them,
Regards,
JAGM
 
We see A LOT of DVX's and HVX's and we see signs of brand mixing all the time. We recommend to just stick with Panasonic AMQ tape and DON"T deviate. Fuji and JVC are some others that are ok. Maxell, Sony, and now TDK may be some brands that you would want to stay away from.

Best regards,

Andrew Hoffman
 
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