mailing dv tapes
 

I'm going on a three month trip to Costa Rica, Hawaii, Fiji, Australia, Indonesia, and Taiwan. I plan on bringing all the tapes i need with me. However i'm nervous about bringing them along with me to every destination. My question is: Will it be ok to mail them home to someone while i am away or will there be some issues with possable loss of footage? The way i see it there is risk either way with possable erasure from airport security staff who refuse to hand check, or it could get lost or stolen when i try to ship it. What does everyone else do?

Thanks

-Julian

miniDV is hard to erase/degauss. I have a tape eraser... I know. X-Rays and magnetic fields should not be a problem at all.

It might get lost in the mail though, so you should probably get insurance.

Or mail dubs back... if you have a second camera, you can make flawless dubs over a firewire cable and mail the dubs back.

well, i'm going on this trip to surf. I already have quite a bit of gear and another camera would just take up too much space. I am way more worried about it getting lost in the mail than the machines i guess so i think i will cart them with me wherever i go but put the ones i have used inside ziplocks in a safe place so i do not lose them.

Thanks for the advice!

-Julian

I've found that hauling an XL1 and gear through the airport is not a very convenient thing. I'm always having to break the gear out for inspection, and it's a hassle. So I bought a lockable pelican case, made some custom foam inserts, and FEDEX the gear to the location.

However, I hand carry my tapes with me, not because I wish them to avoid the stronger MRI scans that my luggage goes through, but to ensure they are secure, clean and dry. A dozen tapes fit easily into my laptop case.

I've had tapes mailed to me from other sources, and a few had cracked outer cases. The cassettes themselves were fine, but it leaves one to wonder what shock or blow was delivered to the package while enroute.

It doesn't have to be a big camera. I use a little Panasonic (DV203) not much bigger than my fist for capturing and such, but it could easily work as a dub "deck". A little Sony would work just as well, if you want to keep brand integrity. :) (And possibly battery compatibility...no idea about Sony..but my big Panny and my little one can share batteries.)

Just an idea.

Dan