2 quick horror stories using Panasonic tape
 

panasonic tape stock AY-DVM63PQ. Canon XH-A1 cameras.

The first straw:
2 camera shoot. Camera 1 footage of 1st act (1 hr long) almost totally unusable. All drop outs. Horror tape stock. Loaded tape 2 for second act and no drop outs. Not the camera's fault but the stock. Had to edit Act 1 from only 1 camera.

2nd straw- Loaded 83 minute tape, only to find that the tape stopped running in the middle of the shoot around 65 minutes! Imagine my suprise. Looked at the tape and it was at the end of the reel. A 63 minute tape mis-labeled as 83 minutes!! Luckily the other camera covered the show.

After this, I changed brands to Sony HDM series stock. No problems since. Before these two stories, I have experienced more than normal "hits" when using Panasonic tape.

David, I am in the same situation, same tape, same camera,
2 tapes from 2 different shoots unusable, trying to salvage the tapes : ((

Just to be fair and balanced.
Two JVC dv500 cameras. Hundreds of video shoots over several years. Panasonic MQ 83 & 63 and 63 AMQ, all mixed together. All sucessful shoots. Never a problem.
Perhaps it was a bad batch in circulation. Would love to hear from others.
Allen W.

I quit using them. Had the same problems with just the regular Sony VX2100's. I use Sony tapes now and no problems.

I know that Sony advises against using the 80 minute tapes on their pro cameras. Evidently the thinner tape is more likely to stretch and create problems.

I use Panasonic's AMQ tapes and have never had a problem with my A1.

I was told to not use Sony tapes with the Canon Dry Tape System since the Sonys are Wet Tapes.

Did you hear that from their support?
Is it really true? Anyone else can confirm this?

My friend has a XH-A1 and wants to know what is the best tape for his camera.
Would Sony be bad then?

I was under the distinct impression that Canon-branded HDV cassettes were actually OEM'ed by Sony.

If you fast forward an 83 minute tape in a Canon XL H1, then rewind it, it will stop before you get to the start of the tape. You will need to press rewind again to get to the start of the tape.

I only tested this once, but these were my results. I assume that this is a safety mechanism to prevent the rewind from running too long.

I would be interested if you footage starts at the beginning of the tape, or in the middle. If so, then the tape was not fully rewound.

Interesting. I've been using Panny 63s and some 83s for years in Sony PD150-170 DSR250 and JVC5000 with only an occassional dropout. Very occassional.

Don

Chris,
I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case, but when buying tapes, I was told that by several sources, including the guys over at B&H. Didn't really find a reason that they would give me the false information since it was between two identically priced tapes...but I'm not an expert on the subject, so I've followed that advice ever since.

Well I've just finished filming series of 6 shows with 2 xh-a1s and i used mixture of pana
AY-DVM83SQ and AY-DVM63AMQ and I must say results were very poor, with at least one drop out on each tape. 6 tapes per night used so im not very happy. some of the 63AMQ tapes had 3 drop outs on the tapes. all recorded in HDV.
Never again..head clean and over to sony tapes, perhaps they are more expensive for a reason? lesson learned.

I believe this correct. I've was told by a Canon rep to use Sony tape. (This of course before Canon started branding their own.)

And I was told by Canon NOT to use Sony tape. But this was four or five years ago, so maybe it's changed. Again, this goes back to the 'wet/dry' issue, and the Canon rep in the service department in Irvine told me Sony was wet, and to use a 'dry' brand.

I shoot Panny exclusively.

In all honesty, I believe that nobody, be it manufacturers, reps, users, etc. really knows a definitive proven answer to "which tape to use with X camera" or "the wet vs. dry" thing, or "clean heads before first use" questions, all of which have been beaten to death with a stick over the years. Everyone has their own opinions.

It all boils down to what works for one individual and stick with it. Some have good results with one manufacturers brand, while others may have horror stories.

I never liked to talk about politics or religion... they're just too argumentative and I think I'll add tape to that mix. :)