Panasonic tape

[Don Palomaki]

Anyone tried the Panasonic AY-DVM63HD tape?

Compared to their AY-DVM63AMQ?

[Bill Pryor]

I haven't seen those anyplace, including B&H and the Panasonic web site. Must be very new. Where did you find them?

[Edward Randolph]

I haven't seen the HD tapes but I've been using the AY-DVM63MQ with great results in my DVX100 and now the XH-A1.
They were down to about $4.50 each. Unfortunately, when I tried to order 50 yesterday, I kept coming up with "Discontinued" or a price of $8.25 each. So, I just said goodbye to a long term love affair and ordered the AY-DVM63AMQ from Tapeandmedia.com for $6.89 each. It's supposed to be better, right?

[Bill Pryor]

Yeah, the specs on the AMQs are better. I think I read someplace else they were going to replace the MQs. Guess that's happened. Under 7 bucks is a very good price for the AMQs. I've been paying just under 9 locally.

[Don Palomaki]

DBL Distributing had some of the HD in stock. But not many. They also have a few of the new Lenmar LIC950G in stock.

[Mike Gorski]

What tapes do most of you guys use when shooting HD with the A1? I would assume you use a cheaper tape for SD but of the same brand?

[Don Palomaki]

There have been other threads on the subject. Seems Panasonic AMQ, MQ, and Sony's HD tapes are the favorites in the other threads.

[Floris van Eck]

I have been using Panasonic DVM63MQ and have had not a single drop-out in 6 months. I now switched to the new DVM63AMQ because I cannot find the DVM63MQ in stores anymore. I really like the Panasonic tape stock.

[Bill Watson]

Am I missing something here?

I'm just using standard mini DV tapes like the Pana DVM60SE. My HD video looks good so far. No drop outs on capture.

What's the advantage of the HD tapes?

[Bill Pryor]

The AMQ tapes have an HDV/DV on the box. There's no difference in quality of the image. Tape is, basically, tape. However, you want the best you can get because of the possibility of dropouts or other problems. By far the biggest number of problems I've seen over the years have come from cheap tape.

A friend of mine shooting with the XH A1 is using Sony's DVCAM tapes because that's what he had been using with his old camera. He's had no trouble at all but is switching to the AMQs because they're cheaper and reputed to be as good.

I've always been a believer in good quality tape, but I don't think when a manfacturer puts HD or HDV on a miniDV tape it really is different tape. They all have the cheap stuff and the good stuff. I think they just relabel the good stuff and charge more. I could be wrong, obviously. So far, the AMQs seem to be perfectly OK for shooting HDV or DV and the price is very good.

[Don Palomaki]

What's the advantage of the HD tapes?

Mainly tighter quality control, and perhaps a slightly better formulation of the magnetic and lubrication layers, resulting in fewer drop outs and other tape read errors. Potentially important for HDV - because the compression scheme used can make a drop out much more apparent.

Tape is cheap compared to the price of a shoot, especially one that cannot be repeated. Each user has to decide their comfort point as far as tape cose adn performance goes.

[Wynn Bradford]

Don they are great, and Pro-Tape in Austin has a good stock of them. I think they are 6.50 each. They come in boxes of 5.

Wynn B