Sony DVM80PRL 80 minute tapes
 

Just out of curiosity.... why the hell are these so expensive in comparison to the standard 62 minute tapes?

$7+ per tape...thats just crazy

Anyone ever see a good deal on these? I tape alot of Hockey and Football where 62 minutes just isnt quite enough and 80 would be perfect.

By using these I could turn all of my shoots to 1 tape shoots

But $7 a tape..... F that

49 views...no opinions? Cmon people

OK here's my take. The longer tapes are just that. More material. Plus, frankly, not as many people buy them as the shorter 60s.
I used to buy a small number of 80s for special things like seminars but frankly I too got tired of putting out the extra money for the 20 minutes. It didn't seem proportional.
Anyway, I guess it gets down to that if you want or need to use the 80s you pay the extra money, if you can get away without them, then you save some money. I use Panny PQs and the 60s (actually 63) is almost $4.00 less than the 83s. All I can figure is like I said before, more material and not as many people buying them especially now with the solid state cameras. Lots of folks aren't even using tape anymore. Guess they have to make their money where they can. :-(

The most innocent view: The tape is actually the cheapest component, and as everything else is identical, these longer tapes should be at most a few cents more than the shorter ones.

The slightly more realistic view: As they sell relatively fewer of these than the normal ones, their overhead and development costs are distributed over fewer units, so they will necessarily be somewhat more expensive.

The cynical and likely most accurate view: People who need these longer tapes are desperate so we can gouge them for as much as we like and it doesn't have to be fair or even logical.

I'm with this last view.....its a cash grab by Sony (and others) for the folks who need these tapes

They'd probably sell a bunch more if they priced them in line... but of course then their 62 minute tapes would see a decline - So I guess they just assume leave the 80's set at a premium and rape the consumer who HAS to have them.

Anyway, I was hopeful to hear or more technical reason why Sony was bending me over and skipping the goodnight kiss (Like perhaps these tapes required some type of special construction or flux capacitors) - But in the end it was what I thought from jumpstreet.

Ultimately it's a business. Sony is not a charity.

If you feel badly about the availability of those extra-length tapes then "punish" Sony by not purchasing them.

Andrew

I recently had my VX2000 in for repair. I was told flat out that tapes longer than 60 minutes are not recommended for the camera because the transports were not designed to pull them. The problems occur at the beginning of the tape until enough slack is taken up. So I stopped buying the 80 minute tapes.

John

I guess it's not so much of a concern when you're running a domestic camera. On the other hand ... those things would be lucky to ever get professionally serviced!

Andrew

Not so. 83min DV tape is 2 microns thinner than 63 min and if the cameras transport is kept clean, there should be no trouble using them.

Cheers.

After the service tech told me that (Armatos in Queens, NY) I called Panasonic. They confirmed it. But it does also depend upon the camera. The VX2000 and PD150 transports were designed for 60 minute tapes.

John

Hi John, no offence I'm not saying the Panasonic guys didn't say that, but as those are Sony cameras I guess they don't have much interest in them.

But I can't see any reason why any manufacturer would design a DV tape transport for only 63min tapes, they'd lose most of their sales for a start.

And if that is the case there would be prominent warnings in those cameras manuals and the reviews, about NOT using 83min tapes .. haven't seen any.

Cheers.

Hmmm, if the PD150/170 transports were only made for 60 minute tapes then I'd have been in a heap of trouble, I've had and still have both those cameras and have run so many 80 (panny 83s actually) thru them both and have never had a problem with either the cameras or the tapes. I've run the 83s thru a DRS250 (PD150 on steroids) DSR300, DSR500 (both those in DVCam as that's all those 2 particular models redorded in) hell I even ran them thru JVC HD100s and 200s. It has never been an issue.
Experts in many cases only parrott what they have heard without any real proof behind it. My cameras have worked just fine for many years with the 83s (althought I don't use them often anymore simply because of the cost versus value) and until they stop running because of the tapes I have to say phooey to the idea the transports are designed for one length of tape.

Just one mans opinion.

Well look. I had been using Panasonic PQ 83 Minute tapes for years myself. In terms of the tech guy at Panasonic having a bias, trust me, he sounded like he could care less which camera I owned.

Sony tech support also told me that the VX2000 was designed for 60 minute tapes as well. I called them yesterday. And they didn't care that I was using Panasonic tapes either.

I switched over for another reason as well. The 83 minute tapes are relatively costly compared to 63 minute tapes that can be had for $2.99 each. If I cannot switch tapes in 60 minutes, I shoot LP and NO I never have a problem shooting LP. I used to believe that it was a problem from other posters' claims on forums, but I haven't found it to be when need it.

John