Cheap DV Tapes

A

AlexD

Active member
Anyone know where to get DV tapes for about $3 each or somewhere around there. No Ebay please

Thanks in advance

-Alex
 
Well, recommended that you use MQ tapes, and you can't get those for any cheaper than 4.50 and thats if you buy a bulk I believe.

Any other one of those crappy DV tapes suck, I used them when I got my dvx first, and the image was horrible.
 
I was planning on buying about 50-100. I dont want shitty tapes, but it really doesnt have to be top of the line. Is there any middleclass quality?

Any links would be much appreciated
 
"Any other one of those crappy DV tapes suck, I used them when I got my dvx first, and the image was horrible."

Now that's one thing I don't understand: Digital cams record digital stuff such as 1000101101010 on a magnetic tape.... A bad recording would be to lose some information due to a magnetic lose (then drops and those squares come up) I can't understand how would a cheap tape record "horrible images" (what's that exactly?: strange colours???, bad definition...????) I think that recording on a cheap tape you take a risk on losing information (as when you read the tape over and over...). If a cheap tape doesn't lose information in that way, then it should show exactly the same quality picture as in a expensive tape.... Am I right?
 
I think you are correct, JauJau. As you said, the problem with some cheapo tapes is dropouts.
 
I would love to know if the cheaper tapes are ok to use for Family videos and for testing out my new DVX. I have 10 TDk tapes left over that I use with my old Sony.
If they going to give my trouble I will get rid of them.
 
I have used Sony Premiums in my pv-gs120. Should I continue to when I get my DVX100B? I don't think I will be able to afford to continue buying MQ's at that price.
 
Well, most of this tape brand switching problems is a bunch of baloney. Also, the cheaper tapes record just as nice an image as the expensive ones. The advantages of the expensive tapes are less chances of dropouts, longer image lifetime once recorded, and a better tape mechanism, so less chance of a tape breaking in your camcorder and then jamming your equipment. If your project is important and your camera is expensive then spending a couple dollars more on tape makes sense to me. If you have 10 tdk tapes and want to shoot family stuff, use them up first. If you are really worried about switching tapes then run a head cleaner, or clean the heads manually and switch to another brand that you are going to use. Personally, I do think it's a good idea to stick with the same tape for the most part, why not? If you are serious then you are already buying tapes at least 10-20 at a time and so it's not that difficult to order the same tape. I only use the panasonic master quality tapes (MQ) for about $4.50 a piece. I don't see the reason (in my use) to buy the new AMQ tapes which are about $9 each. there are soooooooo many posts on this subject. Mark
 
i use panasonic dvm60 me tapes when i'm payin for them. When its a clients project and they pay for tapes i go mq.
 
i use cheapo tdk tapes. image is great and dropouts are very minimal. i get them for a buck each....

changing tape brands won't melt your dvx as some people think. mixing dry/wet lube tapes may dirty your heads more often but that's it. i had this discussion with a rental house owner. he rents his dvx's out every day with no control over what tapes are used. he said he cleans the heads regularly and doesn't see a problem. seems that if the lube issue or switching tape brands issue was such a big deal, it would be addressed in the manual, or even the dvx book. it's not.
 
But since barry wrote the book and has mentioned not mixing tape brands then it basically is in the book... but isn't.
 
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