MQ - second thought

S

shAi

Well-known member
i was a good boy, i sticked to the expensive, hard to find Panasonic MQ tapes, people thought I'm crazy, but i knew that i can't treat my camera any better than this.
so now, why do i get video dropouts (at least a small one for a tape, a big one every 3 hs' in average) while playing on a Sony DSR-11 deck (after purifying with a cleaning tape, before stating to play my MQ's)

my theory: the uniqueness of the MQ's, being "dry tapes" is maybe good for my camera's head, if sticking to it all the way. but all the rest machines that know 99.99% wet tapes, are getting crazy when playing this "unique" dry tape!!! i suspect that the dropouts caused on the sony vcr and not on my camera (that i, of course, didn't use to play the material).

i'm considering to straight down with the common "wet" standard. any thoughts, same experience?

thanks

 
 
Re: MQ - second thought

Try running your tapes through the camera to make sure its the deck (I swim against the tide on this one and use my camera to run off a VHS preview dub of each tape and for capturing to my computer - the thing's not that delicate :-/.) If it's the camera, you can a) run the cleaner tape again (you're pretty bright so I'm sure you followed the manual and ran it for less than 10 seconds each cleaning) or b) contact Panasonic and have them check out the heads for alignment/ wear problems.
 
Re: MQ - second thought

What is the best way to store tapes after they have been shot? Vault, fire proof safe, shoe box? What is best for their safety?
thanks
 
Re: MQ - second thought

24Peter, thanks for assuming i'm bright... i'm afraid that i'm not, though. when i received my camera i've heard that i "have to run the cleaning tape before using the MQ", so just like that, the cleaning tape was the first tape to meet the head. it's possible that i damaged something..?

maltesfalcon, i've read someone said that the tapes should be fully rewinded and stored vertically with the empty roll pointing the sky. in a bullets proof box.
 
Re: MQ - second thought

People are saying to run the cleaning tape before using an MQ tape ONLY if you've been running other types of tapes through the camera. If not, there's no need to use the cleaning tape. The thing to know about the Panasonic cleaning tape (and I assume all cleaning tapes but don't quote me on this) is that they are ABRASIVE. Now I'm no expert so I'm not sure how abrasive they are, but the reason to run them sparingly is to avoid head wear. The DVX manual says to run the tape for no more than 10 seconds at a time. B/c of the early problems I had with SONY tapes, I've run my head cleaner a total of about 25 seconds with no apparent adverse effects. I don't know how long the entire head cleaning tape is, but if you are saying you ran the entire tape through once before using the camera, that may be your problem. Like I said earlier, make sure first it's not your deck that is the problem. Then, if you think its the camera and not the deck, either live with the problem (since it seems kind of sporadic) or contact Panasonic. Anyone else have any ideas?
 
Re: MQ - second thought

no no no... that first time was less than 10 seconds, sorry, i wasn't clear on that.
 
Re: MQ - second thought

I think you're right on Peter. I've heard to run the cleaner everytime you switch types of tapes. This is due to the fact that the type of lubricant used by any given tape is not certain.

After much to do regarding lubricants, I emailed Jan Crittenden and she will not make a formal statement now. She says Panasonic is working on getting the lubricant specs together and will be posting them on the web.

Evidently there is a discrepancy inside Panasonic as to which tape uses which lubricant. :p
 
Re: MQ - second thought

Nope. Definitely a gal. Even heard an interview from her on the web somewhere. Sounds to be a truly nice person too!
 
Re: MQ - second thought

yes she is! even helped me with some stuff...
good to know...
 
Re: MQ - second thought

Jan's real shady when it comes to the issue of tape lubricant mixing. She sticks to her platform of there is "no" such issue when clearly so many ppl have reported them. Take any words of her's on "this" subject with a large grain of salt!
 
Re: MQ - second thought

I don't know if I would call it shady. It is most probable that she was given inaccurate information, and now she's monkey in the middle.
 
Re: MQ - second thought

I've been using the Panasonic EJ tape, have shot over 15 hours and have had no problems, either in the camera or in capturing off a Sony DSR 11 to FCP. I didn't know the manual recommended the MQ tapes, and now I'm a little reluctant to switch. Is it really that much better? If I make the switch, what do I need to do? Just run the tape cleaner once? Thanks.
 
Re: MQ - second thought

dawg,

my 2 cents is this:
if its not broken... dont try to fix it..
the slightly higher quality of the pq, or mq tapes that we assume really exists isnt going to make your footage any better than it already is if your not having issues. and the main reason people have all these head issues is from swithcing tape brands or types. the panasonic mq tapes are the only existing "dry lube" tapes in the world,and were not made specifically for the dvx-100 so the thought that somthing may go wrong with them is not too unfathomable.

on a side note a freind of mine used to work at a butter factory where he fed  huge slabs of butter into a machine where they were cut into the little butter sticks. he would then watch the little sticks get divided up.. some wrapped a few feet away and sold in the supermarket sold as "land o lakes" for 2.67 or somthing per 4 sticks, and the rest to be wrapped as generic supermarket brands for .47 per 4 sticks.
anyway point of the story is that you dont always get what your paying for. companies know that people who are meticulous about having the "best" will pay more for somthing if they stick it in a neato wrapper and call it somthing that makes it sound better. in your case you wont see any better quality from the higher priced tapes, but you will spend more, and possibly run into head dropout problems. panasonic reccomends that ANY 60 min tape from panasonic be used in the camera in the manual, and suggests elswhere that if you use their  higher priced mq brand tapes with "dry lubricant" your heads will have optimal performace through less wear over time. I seriously doubt that panasonic ever actually tested these claims out on the dvx100, and are only basing these suggestions on theoretical conclusions from other tests, and the chance to get a bit more money from you. besides even with using standard "wet lube tapes" the projected head life of the dvx is pretty long, and you would most likely be buying a different better cam that comes out before you wear the heads out. anyhow the mq tapes specs are much better, but you dont need a cannon to kill a grasshopper .. if your doing fine with the tapes your using you may as wel stick with them , unless you need really long term archival of the material on dv tape, or untill you start your next project. if your not in the middle of anything now than you may as well switch, and feel better about doing what you can to have your heads last longer. this site sells them pretty cheap anyway. i will probably be switching after my current project is done, and hoping that it goes smoothly.

ok ..sorry that was more like 4 cents
 
Re: MQ - second thought

thats not cool..

i can justify that by thinking the heads probably have some wet lube on them from the factory , either from testing , or just what is put on as protectant in the factory. i doubt they ship with the heads completeley dry, but they might. as well as some cams may just have bad heads.
but i would most likely send mine in for replacment under warranty if their supposed "best tapes" have been in consistant use and it still has issues
 
Re: MQ - second thought

Thanks, IAML, for taking the time for 4 cents. I think I will stick with what works.

On a not-quite, but somewhat, related topic. The other day I put a tape in my Sony Video Walkman (DSR V10) and it was artifacting like crazy--whole fields of square mosaics over much of the image flowing in various patterns. I put the tape in the Sony DSR 11 and it worked fine. I put another tape in the Walkman, and it played fine. I cleaned the Walkman heads, but no change. What gives? Is this a tracking problem with this particular tape? The only thing I did differently in recording this tape was to run color bars from a different scene file before recording in 24pa (but I'll save that question for another thread.) Thanks.
 
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