Three tapes, Three dropouts!!!
 

So i'm taping the cake cutting with a fresh tape...
I get home, and 10 seconds are missing from the cake cut...

I loaded a tape yesterday, ran about 20 seconds of bar, and i get about three seconds of dropout..
Just to make sure it wasn't a fluke, i loaded a tape tonight, and got another 2 seconds missing..

It seems to be the first 20 seconds are critical..Is there anyway to test if my heads, or tape transport aren't out of whack, or should i accept the fact that there's a possible bad batch of tapes...

I'm shooting Canon XH A1, with Panasonic 63minute AMQ's.

Not saying you don't have a head issue, or a bad batch of tapes, but there is a VERY good reason for the 1 minute pre-roll on tape that no one seems to follow any more. Print bars and tone at the head of every tape. One minute worth.

Not sure if this would have affected your cake cutting or not.

I do the same thing. I can't figure out why everyone doesn't do this.

Yes....
I've started giving about twenty seconds, but perhaps i should take Perrone's advice...
I'll let you know if anymore tapes are corrupt....

I am recording DVCAM on to Sony's premium Mini DV tapes - 60min tape = 40mins footage.

I'm using a Sony DSR-130, for recording and playback. I have experienced a ridiculous number of dropouts only on one tape, mainly in the audio. It's particularly bad at the end of tapes and in between shots when the camera has been turned off.

The heads probably need cleaning, though I am worried it may be something much more serious. Any Ideas? It may be just the way I am using it but still odd none the less.

10 seconds of tape dropout really does seem a bit abnormal, especially since you are using decent tapes.

Are you able to put some time in to trying to replicate the problem on a different tape? It may seem a lot of unnecessary work, but it's better than running in to the problem again on your next paying job.

Andrew

When I purchased my two Sony V1U's a couple of years ago I first went with Panny DV tapes as they seemed to have the best user reviews on forums at the time. The first dozen or so I used were fine but then I ran into a batch with a few dropouts but nothing like you experienced. It would just be a blip lasting 15 frames or so to maybe one second. I got online and found out that others had been suddenly experiencing problems with Panny DV tapes. Upon further research found out that a whole lot of people were having excellent results with the standard Sony DV tapes that only cost about $2.25 each online. I have been using those the past year or so without any incidence of dropouts that I can think of.

I am glad I read this thread and was reminded it is a good thing to put bars and tones for a minute at the beginning of each tape for a variety of reasons including missing possible bad tape right at the beginning.

I've certainly noticed that if I'm going to get a head clog, it will be at the beginning of a tape - usually the cheap DV tapes (I only use Sony). One of the reasons why I have moved up a notch to only use Sony blues or better.

There's something magical about the first 30 seconds of a tape. On the other hand, there's something comparatively cool about being able to drop a tape and not lose any of your data. :-)

Andrew

Andrew, what do you mean by "Sony blues"? The Sony DV tapes I use come in a blue wrapper. Is that what you mean? If so I didn't know Sony made any less expensive / lower priced ones than these.

Rather than rattle off some product code, I'll just post the following images:

Andrew

You really should take it for granted that the first minute of a tape is a no go area as far as reliability is concerned. The old convention of 1 minute of bars is for good reason. Still once it has happened to you the future looks bright.

I know this might come off sounding insensitive, but it's from the heart.

As soon as you can afford it, switch to tapeless media.

Since I started shooting on solid state media (Sony SxS) at the beginning of 2008, I haven't experienced a single glitch. Prior to that I was shooting on P2. Same thing.

It's brought peace of mind, if nothing else. My only concerns now are the usual: Is it in frame and in focus? Did I start the camera in time? Are the audio levels OK?

This may seem obvious, but did you try cleaning your heads? I would consider sending the camera in to a repair center for insepction.

Nailed! The other reason left may be a defective tape or camera.

Beginning and end of tapes usually receive a lot of damage from FF and RWD (listen to the accelerating sound of some VTRs when approaching those points).
Many years ago we used to FF-RWD the whole tape if it was new and had been in storage for a long time. I recall some Maxwell Betacam that if you didn't do that got an ugly bunch of intermittent small drop-outs throughout the recording.

Follow the advice of going tapeless.

Alrighty....

Another cake cut and same issue....
This time with another camera...

I'm going to dig a bit deeper...Perhaps call up Panasonic directly?