mini cam corder

[drifter106]

getting ready to purchase my first mini cam and was wondering for those of you with some experience...

is it advisable to use the tapes more than once?

any particular brand better quality than others?


any other comments or suggestions would be taken seriously...getting ready to drop about $1000 and want to be sure and confident in what I buy

thanks

jd

 

[Fardringle]

I have used JVC, Sanyo, Sony, TDK, Maxell, and Memorex MiniDV tapes with my JVC camera and none of them have had any issues at all that I can tell. I have used many of them at least two or three times after recording the previous contents to VHS or to my PC with no apparent loss of quality or functionality. Just as with any other magnetic tape media, the cheaper brands will probably wear out under constant use (just as the expensive ones will, only they'll probably last longer) but you shouldn't have any trouble at all re-using them multiple times.



edit: As far as actual video quality on the different brands, I haven't seen any real differences in any of the brands, although the tape cases themselves feel somewhat more flimsy on the Sanyo and TDK tapes than on the other brands so they could be more prone to breaking under stress/dropping.

 

[gsellis]

The real scope is they are all about the same in DV. The only caution is mixing dry lubricant with wet lubricant, which is used on the tapes. It will create a mess on the heads and cause dropouts. So, buy a brand and stick with it. I use Fuji, which may come from the same plant as the Panasonic tapes (Fuji). I think the Sony's are wet and Fuji's are dry, so do not mix them.

Also, buy online in bulk. From B&H Photo Video, I buy in lots of 10 and they are $3.50 each then. B&H is probably the best online retailer.

You can reuse them, but at $3.50 each, you may want to keep the archive. I do not as I do business with them. It could be confusing if the new timecode on the tape does not match a skip and the reset timecode (broken timecode) when you go to edit.