Picture Trouble

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This question/problem probably displays my utter incompetence, but here goes. I've shot for 140 hours on my DVX w/o problem, but recently shot for two days and upon reviewing the footage discovered that it was unusable. It started with "sparkles" of red/green, then started shifting blocks of video, then the whole picture got glitchy, and the audio started hiccuping and getting very "staticky". The frustrating thing was that none of this showed on the monitors during the shoot.

I have been very cavalier about the types of tape I use. I shot a feature last summer using Maxell tapes, have done several projects with Sony tapes, then shot this one with cheap TDK tapes.

Is my problem as simple as that I'm switching between cheap tapes and need to clean the heads and stick to Panasonic tapes? (I suspect this may be the case from what I'm reading on this site, plus the fact that I ran a test with a Sony tape and while not perfect, it was radically better than the images I was getting on the TDK tapes.) Or do I have a serious problem that requires shipping the camera off to Panasonic.

There is mention on other threads that we should stick solely to the tapes made by Panasonic. Is this the conventional wisdom and experience of other DVX users?
 
Re: Picture Trouble

Try your head cleaner. Keep it under 10 seconds! Switch to Panasonic M.Q. Sounds like gummed up heads to me. This camera while great does not like to switch between brands of tape. And the dry tapes I'm told are much better. If all else fails, time for a professional cleaning8)
 
Re: Picture Trouble

Hi Aidahon,

I JUST had the exact same thing (almost) happen to my DVX. Ended up being clogged/dirty heads. Still can't understand how that happened, since I take really good care of the unit (when not in use it sits in a tight sealed hard case), and it worked fine one day and was crap the very next. Also have only ever used one brand of tape. But, I suppose these things happen. Anyways, I tried using the head cleaner that came with the camera, but it was no help. I took it back to the company I purchased it from and they sent it out to be cleaned for me free of charge. I just got it back last night, so I haven't had a chance to check it out personally, but the technician said they tested it and it checks out A-ok now. So basically, I recommend sending it to be cleaned if the head cleaner provided doesn't do it's job. Some dirt's just harder to get rid of I guess :)
 
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