Colin McDonald |
July 8th, 2008 12:43 AM |
Quote:
Originally Posted by Travis Cossel
(Post 904238)
I've never heard of this before. Cleaning the heads on a brand new camera out of the box? What is the reasoning behind doing this?
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Well, Canon themselves say (PAL manual p.25)
Quote:
"Before you begin recording
Make a test recording to check if the camcorder operates correctly. If necessary clean the video heads [p 144] "
Also p 91:
"Playing back a tape
If the playback picture is distorted, clean the video heads using a Canon Video Head Cleaning Cassette or a commercially available digital head-cleaning cassette [p 144]"
and p144 itself:
When the message "HEADS DIRTY, USE CLEANING CASSETTE" appears, when the playback picture becomes distorted, or if, when playing back a tape in HD standard the picture and/or sound becomes stops momentarily (about 0.5 seconds) the video heads need to be cleaned.
To maintain the best picture quality, we recommend cleaning the video heads frequently with the Canon DVM-CL Digital Video Head Cleaning Cassette or a a commercially available dry cleaning cassette.
Tapes already recorded with dirty video heads may not play back correctly even when you clean the video heads.
Do not use wet type cleaning cassettes as this may damage the camcorder.
If the playback quality does not improve after cleaning the video heads it may indicate a malfunction. Consult a Canon Service Centre."
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On the other hand, I know a well respected technician who would never let a head cleaning tape anywhere near a consumer camera let alone a prosumer or professional camcorder, on the grounds (haha) that you might as well use sandpaper on the heads. He is firmly of the belief that video heads should only be cleaned manually - using solvents - by someone both skilled and trained. Frivolous cleaning should be discouraged on the "if it ain't broke..." principle. He advocated a routine of planned manual cleaning on professional camcorders.
On his advice, I used several Sony camcorders for 6 and a half years (many hundreds of hours of filming and capturing) on the same brand of tape without cleaning the heads once.
This was SD DV not HD, so maybe that's a factor.
I'm still very nervous about using abrasive head cleaners.
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