Newbee paralyzed with options: MiniDV Tape Recommendations

Speedcar

Speedcar

New member
Just received my 100B. Never thought that deciding what tape I should commit to would be the biggest problem so far with the camera.
I have a lot of Maxell (DVM60SE) and JVC (DVM60) tapes left from an older camera. Should I only purchase a PRO tape, and then only Panasonic brands (the Panasonic brands rec. in the manual) ?
Does switching brands cause a problem in taping?
What about relative tape quality of dry vs lubricated tape cassettes?
Is the type of tape used or preferred based on the type of filming one does?
Is there a tape that does better at filming in low ambient lighting situations?
OR is tape brand irrelevant because quality is just a matter of camera settings?
If so, does it really matter what brand I select?
What do you guys use? And why?
Thanks for any assistance.
 
Brand and "dry" versus "wet" makes no absolutely no difference, but you need to pick a brand and stay with it exclusively.

Different brands (JVC, Sony, Panasonic) use different types of lubricant, and switching from one to the other can cause the camera's tape heads to gum up.

It really doesn't matter, but you may as well use the Panasonic brand, here:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...M63AMQ_AY_DVM63AMQ_Mini_DV_Videocassette.html

As far as your other questions, no, mini-dv tape is not at all like choosing a filmstock. There is no difference in light sensitivity in any mini-dv tape and the tape itself has no inherent effect on the look of the footage.

DV in general is far from "organic" on all counts. It might not hurt for you to take a minute to look here, for a refresher if nothing else: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DV

Good luck!
 
For awhile I couldn't get my hands on the MQ's so I was using PQ's and they cost half as much.

I use these as backups as my primary recording device is FW to hard drive on my laptop using DVmonitorPro. In cases where I had a recording problem and had to use the backup tapes I've had no issues and some of these were on tapes that were recycled over 40 times. Just a heads up to save you a few bucks.
 
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