panasonic tapes

olsonbock623

olsonbock623

Active member
I'm waiting for my 10 tapes from Panasonic just like everyone else it seems. So I'm looking to buy a bunch of tapes in the meantime. I see that Panasonic has Professional and Master tapes. Are the master tapes the ones to get? They are a bit more expensive.
 
yes, and evs online (www.evsonline.com) has a great deal on them right now, and if you mention dvxuser.com they'll usually give you a discount, they're the best customer service and they're the best prices for what they carry, I only shoot the MQ tapes, fewer dropouts...
 
I remember reading somewhere that its best not to use 83 min tapes but cant remember the reason as i came across this and didn't know if this particular tape was no good for the DVX or because it was 83 mins...never seen this before

Thanks

http://www.creativevideo.co.uk/home/
 
Hi procam, I have had some customers successfully use 83 minute tapes, but most abstain from it, primarily due to the fact that the tape is not as sturdy as the 63 minute loads, and the DVX manual actually says not to use 83 minute loads. In certain conditions, it is more important to have the 83 minute load, as when you're shooting a 70 minute live TV show. That outweighs all else.:thumbsup:
 
Thanks for the reply Rush ... at least i know i can use the pro tape with no problems as they do them in 60 min here. Is there that much differance between Pro and MQ ?

Thanks again

Paul.
 
tapes

tapes

yes, I am looking to buy tapes as well for my newly aquired dvx100a camera... but i don't know what to get.... panasonic , sony, MQ? what is MQ, anyone? does that stand for something? I know I should stick with one brand and stick with it throughout the life of the camera, so i'm told, so I must decide NOW. thanks.
 
I believe MQ refers to "Master Quality" as in a Master tape. I think the PQ are "professional quality". I am not sure of the difference, but I think the tape itself is the same for these, but the cassette mechanism is perhaps a bit better in the MQ tapes. I think either the MQ or PQ are significantly better than the standard panasonic tapes mainly concerning dropouts where the magnetization of the tape is not sufficient to convey the digital information recorded onto the tape. Dropouts aside, I believe the picture quality is the same for all miniDV tapes. Mark
 
That is correct, Mark, the master quality tapes have denser magnetic particles, which reduce significantly the likelihood of dropouts. Pro quality tapes have the same lubrication, same tape case, but different loads. It actually lends truth to the age old shooters' statement, "the footage will stick to the film better" :grin:

As far as what tape to use in general, the manual recommends master quality tape, and after those run out someday, the AMQ advanced master quality tapes. Those are dry lubricated tapes, which use graphite paste instead of oil for lubrication.

Many people use Sony and other brands, and as long as you don't change brands or model, it should work just fine. Sony and JVC tapes use oil lubrication which is designed for Sony camcorders and decks. Just stay away from the drugstore brand. Those tend to be super dirty.
 
At VideoService, the technician tolds me to use only MQ tapes on the DVX100. Previously, I was using Maxell (now, I know that this brand is like toilette paper) and Fuji but I always had problem with the recording heads.

With Panasonic MQ tapes, I had no problems.
 
Yep. Replaced them with the AY-DVM63AMQ at nearly twice the price.

But the Panasonic website site still lists the AY-DVM63MQ...
 
so i use MQ's for all my pro shoots, but then use TDK's that i bought at costco for all my test/messing-around shoots.

anyone see this as a problem?
i heard that the TDK's are dry lubed as well. can anyone confirm this?

thanks dudes...
 
Hi splitvision, I would say, you have to distinguish between recording quality and head wear. True the subject matter may not be critical, but the damage is still happening to the heads. It's not just the lubrication, that just sets the amount of drag on the motors pulling against the tape. It's the level of poor-quality magnetic tape that is rubbing against the drum and heads, and leaving dirt on them. Then you go to put a good tape in there, to shoot soomething critical, and the dirt is still under there. Just treat the DVX tape carriage as a clean room, as you would an SDX900 :)

God Bless Costco, though :thumbsup: just use their tapes for home movies in the small handycam, not the DVX :laugh:
 
Just got my 50 tapes. :laugh:

Oh. Wait a sec. I got them from Tapestock Online.

Weird price points. <50 EVS was lowest. >99 EVS was lowest. 50-99 Tapestock Online was lowest. Go figure.
 
We were using mixed tapes: Panasonic and Sony and after about 60 hours we had to have the heads realigned on our DVX. Cost for this and cleaning was $300. We were told that if you have to use Sony, use a Panasonic head cleaner before using Panasonic tapes. You go from wet to dry. We intend to use only either the PQ or MQ Panasonic tapes from now on. We also use some 83 min. Panasonic tapes for long wedding ceremonies. We were advised to use MQ83's by our media supplier.
 
GenJerDan, I will match with Tapestock online as well as any other legit outfit for DVXusers, . :thumbsup:
 
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