What brand tapes should I go with?

F

fiegster

New member
Hey guys. I'm stoked about getting my new dvx100b in the mail tomorrow and want to be sure to take good care of the heads. I have read that I should pick a brand of tape and stick with it. I've also heard that Sony tapes use a wet lube and Panasonic uses a dry lube.

So if I stick with the same brand, is there any difference between using Sony's wet or Panasonic's dry lubed tapes? I figured I'd go with the Panasonics due to the fact that the camera comes with a Pana tape (yay!).

Let me know what you guys use or if you have any other "before you get started with your new camera" advice that might help.

Thanks!
-B
 
fiegster said:
Hey guys. I'm stoked about getting my new dvx100b in the mail tomorrow and want to be sure to take good care of the heads. I have read that I should pick a brand of tape and stick with it. I've also heard that Sony tapes use a wet lube and Panasonic uses a dry lube.

So if I stick with the same brand, is there any difference between using Sony's wet or Panasonic's dry lubed tapes? I figured I'd go with the Panasonics due to the fact that the camera comes with a Pana tape (yay!).

Let me know what you guys use or if you have any other "before you get started with your new camera" advice that might help.

Thanks!
-B
Click to expand...

If you do asearch of the site-imput dvm63pq or dvm63mq I think you will get a wealth of information from men of experience. Play with dropping the dvm in the search and might get more. new to site myself.
 
Thanks lynnjones. I was just not searching with the correct key words.

After reading a lot of posts, it seems like a big debate between the PQ and MQ tapes.

Can anyone verify that using ANY type of PANASONIC tape in my cameras will be ok? As http://www.philpang.com/tips/minidv_lubricants.html has mentioned, these two Pany tapes are both dry. There shouldn't be any issues using either of them, right?

I absolutely know that I need quality tape for things like wedding videos, but when I start to get used to my dvx and GS500, I don't want to have to waste the greatest tape in the world for my experiments and stupid stuff. Is it safe to use the EJ, PQ and MQ tapes depending on my shooting situations?
 
fiegster said:
Thanks lynnjones. I was just not searching with the correct key words.

After reading a lot of posts, it seems like a big debate between the PQ and MQ tapes.

Can anyone verify that using ANY type of PANASONIC tape in my cameras will be ok? As http://www.philpang.com/tips/minidv_lubricants.html has mentioned, these two Pany tapes are both dry. There shouldn't be any issues using either of them, right?

I absolutely know that I need quality tape for things like wedding videos, but when I start to get used to my dvx and GS500, I don't want to have to waste the greatest tape in the world for my experiments and stupid stuff. Is it safe to use the EJ, PQ and MQ tapes depending on my shooting situations?
Click to expand...


Like yourself I have a lot of learning do do. I ordered the MQ thinking it was the best and Willoughby's online sent the PQ instead. I have seen several sites which say the MQ is discontinued and replaced with the AMQ. Don't know what the A stands for but the specs sound good. The magnetic quality of the Master series is supose to be 400 times better. Most internet sites will give specs on the different tapes. The important thing to consider is the lubricant. What I have seen on this site is the advice not to use different types of tapes so as not to gum up the heads. I am sure there is a lot more to it, so reasearch is a good start.
 
Got a related situation that might add info to this thread.

A friend who sold his Sony PD150 gave me $200 worth of brand new unopened Sony DVM 60PRL tapes. I have only used the Panasonic AY-DVM63MQ tapes in my DVX100A. I have very, very low usage of my camera in general.

So here I am with a bunch of Sony tapes I was hoping to use for unimportant stuff. I was told by more than one person that if I get a good head cleaner and run it thru my camera I can then use the Sony tapes without problems.
If I switch back to the Pany tapes I should use the head cleaner again and all should be fine. The wet vs dry tape issue will then not be an issue.

So far I have not done this but I am intending to.

Do you all agree/disagree with this method?
 
JJ Alexander wrote:
Do you all agree/disagree with this method?
Click to expand...

I agree that would be a better idea if you insist on using different types of tapes in your camera but the original poster said this:

fiegster wrote:
and want to be sure to take good care of the heads.
Click to expand...

Well if you really want take good care of them use one brand/type of tape and stick to it. Tape is cheap, the heads in your camera are not (+/- 1000$ to replace if my memory serves me right)... You decide where you want to pinch pennies. A better idea would be to sell the 200$ worth of sony tapes and buy some more panasonic tapes for you to experiment with.

My.02
 
I've used MQ's and PQ's quite a bit.

Here's my methodology so you know where I'm coming from. I have a DVX100B and one of the things I do is shoot horse shows. Every few minutes a new "class" comes into the show ring, and people buy these classes from me. Sometimes nobody buys a class but I shoot them anyway, because they might order later. I capture on both mini DV and a laptop via firewire, so the miniDV is just a backup. I have usually 3 miniDV tapes I keep in rotation. It's not uncommon during any given show to recycle each tape more than 20 times and I've had shows where I've recycled a tape over 40 times.

Knowing all that, I've had both MQ's and PQ's in the same set, rotating them in sequence and back and forth without issue. I've also never had dropouts in the footage on either model of panny tape. Given the price difference between the two, I'd say if you're on a budget and plan on using these for "normal" use, meaning not recycling them multiple times I don't think it matters much. If however your footage really really matters, ie you're shooting weddings or an indie film or something where re-shooting because of glitches is unacceptable why take any chances and just go with the MQ.


I clean my heads every 10 or so hours with a panny head cleaning tape which is another topic altogether. Most pro techs have said this is a crime against nature as the effective mechanism of this method is abraision rather than molecular adhesion. I think that's the correct term. Think SOS pad vs Windex and paper towel to clean a window. I know, that makes me a moron, but that's my MO in life I guess.
 
Thanks for all the replies! Wasn't expecting this thread to live as long as it has, seeing as there are tons of other threads just like it (oops, my bad!).

So on a whim (I guess) I decided to record a wedding for my sisters friends wedding. I needed to experiment with my new DVX in the wedding scenario so I decided just to tape it for free so that I could experiment and not have to sweat so much.

Got the camera later in the day on Thursday that I would have liked (but Newegg and B&H were great) and the wedding was on Saturday. This wasn't enough time to get quality tapes from an online dealer so I had to go with the consumer EJs.

Playing the video back on my TV, the images looked EXCELLENT! I am so pleased with this camera. I have never seen quality so good and the camera handled really easily. Never did I see any dropped frames or anything either.

So now that I have enough time before my next wedding, I'm just gonna go with the PQs from B&H. As someone had said in another thread, the price of professional tapes REALLY ARE cheaper than buying them at Best Buy or where ever. But I am a pretty thrifty and broke 21 year old guy, and I know that if I buy the most expensive tapes, I will probably be more conscientious of how much I shoot and try to conserve my stock stash.

I'll let you guys know if I have any other problems. Oh, and I'm gonna get a Pana head cleaner too, just in case. *I'll use it sparingly!!*
 
Where's the best place to buy them (the tapes, I mean)? I can't find any store in my area (western NY), but I found a few places online. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Lloyd
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top