with hv 30, sd or hd tapes

B

berniej

Member
just wondering:

canon recommends using hd tapes with the hv 30.

i use sony tapes for my pan 100a and for my sony dvcam dsr-11.

i'll have a new canon hv30 tomorrow and sony seems to have an mini hd tape. does anyone see a big - or medium-size - difference between standard mini dv tapes and mini HD dv tapes.

thanks
 
I've always used regular TDK MiniDV tapes with my HV20 and there is no difference with the HDV tape I've tried once. The difference between two is not in video quality but in error ratio. With the regular MiniDV tapes it is more likely that you will have a dropout compared to the HDV tape. Personally I didn't get a single dropout with the regular MiniDV tapes I've used over the years.
 
Yes, there is no difference in IMAGE QUALITY between HD DV and simple DV tapes. The HD DV is just more durable.

  • 90% fewer errors and 50% fewer dropouts for improved reliability and audio/video stability
  • 3dB higher carrier-to-noise ratio for greater output and less noise during recording
 
I experimented with both. The standard DV tapes introduced way to many drop-outs.
I now use the SONY HDM-63VG , which is the new low-end HDV tapes from SONY.
Those are only $2 more than the standard DV tapes and are much more reliable. (Still not 100% error free, but acceptable).
I hope this helps...
 
I am partial to Panasonic AYDVM63PQ 63 Minute Professional Quality Mini-DV Digital Tape

you can get 5-Packs for $15 US - here -

I've bought several things from him before and they arrive lickety split faster than Amazon!

So far so good! :beer:
 
Some HDV specific tapes have special lubricants in them to keep things rolling smoothly. Other than that, I really don't know how they are different. Some more expensive tapes may have greater longevity too, so they may last a while longer, but I'm unsure about that.

I use TDK tapes from Costco, I get a ten pack for $25 CAD. $2.50 a tape, which isn't bad, since some HDV specific tapes cost $20 a tape.
 
There is no difference whatsoever between mini DV and HDV tapes. Same lubricant is used for both.
Quote from Alan Roberts, Ex BBC. On DV doctor forum.
ALL DV based tape formats use the same tape, miniDV, DVCPRO, DVCPROHD, DVCAM, HDV, the tape is the same, not just the tape width, the same tape will work. But, tapes sold as HDV tend top have much higher coercivity than the rest and therefore much lower errors rates, which is what we need for MPEG2 recording.

At the beginning of DV, there were two variants, Sony and the rest. They used different lubricants in the manufacture. Mixing use of these clogged the heads because one lubricant was a solvent for the other. That problem went away when Sony conformed to the rest of the world, but the same thing happened again when HDV came along, although, again, Sony have fallen into line.
 
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