How many tape generations?
 

Not sure if that's the right way to refer to what I'm asking... I have a DVX100a and run the dry tapes from Panasonic.

I'm just wondering if after I capture the data from a tape if I can then reuse the tape to record again without loosing quality or getting artifacts etc...

Thanks!

We have no shortage of opinions on reusing tapes.

I never erase any of my camcorder tapes, as I want to preserve all the footage for future copying and editing. I have Hi-8 and ED-Beta tapes from more than 15 years back and even though I've made digital copies of many of them, I still keep the originals. The cost of cassettes is small, compared to the value of having access to all the footage of everything you've shot, at full quality. Having two or more copies of them is good insurance.
You never know who might be interested in some shots you discarded in your first edit and how far in the future that time may come.

However, I've done VCR re-recording on some DV tapes more than 10 times and have had no dropouts or other glitches. I pay twice as much for Sony's Excellence tapes, which probably has helped me avoid problems with multiple recording passes.
I'm hoping the higher-grade tapes will also hold up better over time.

Steve McDonald