Tape age at DVinfo.net

Jim Sofranko · November 28th, 2006, 10:20 PM

Anyone know what the shelf life of the Panny MQ tapes are??

Garrison Hayes · November 28th, 2006, 10:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Sofranko

Anyone know what the shelf life of the Panny MQ tapes are??

If only I knew what that was...

Richard Alvarez · November 28th, 2006, 11:03 PM

He's asking about the 'life expectancy' (shelf life) of the Pannasonic tapes. Don't rightly know. As long as they are stored properly, in a cool dry place. Rewound occasionally... I would guess at least five, maybe ten years?

J. Stephen McDonald · November 29th, 2006, 09:29 AM

Regardless of the claims made about the great longevity of optical disks, my experience is that highgrade tapes are very dependable and long-lasting, by comparison. My ME and also MP tapes for Hi-8 and BetaCam SP are getting as much as 17 years in age now and I've had no significant failures with them so far.

Richard Alvarez · November 29th, 2006, 10:14 AM

A lot really does depend on storage. I've got beta SP tapes that show drop outs that are twenty years old, but I know for a fact, for a number of years they were stored in an attic that was hot and humid.

Bottom line. Take GOOD care of your media. And every so often, back it up.

Jim Sofranko · November 29th, 2006, 12:56 PM

Here's why I ask...I've been experiencing a persistant head clogging problem on my Panasonic DVX 100A. This has been occurring since I opened a new box of tapes (5) and shooting for the past week.

I manually cleaned the heads each time the head cleaning indicator lit up on the camera when I've been shooting. This past weekend I did a thorough manual cleaning but yesterday it started blinking again after the first tape. I even used the previously-unused, head cleaning tape. But I still get the heads clogged error message. Camera has about 132 hours and has been well maintained.

I'm thinking maybe the tapes may be the problem as they over 1 year old and haven't been stored well. They went with me on an overseas trip last year to a hot climate and have since been stored in a cabinet in my home. Not climate controlled.

Any ideas??

Richard Alvarez · November 29th, 2006, 01:02 PM

Were the tapes sealed in plastic?

Were you switching between brands? A year or two shouldn't make any difference for new tapes still in their wrappers I should think. Could be problems caused by a change in tape lubrication formulation. (See the NUMEROUS threads on the pros and cons of changing tape brands often or never)

Jim Sofranko · November 29th, 2006, 01:22 PM

No, I've always used the MQ Panasonic line although I did shoot a few weeks ago with a lesser quality Panasonic tape. But only 2 tapes.

Tapes were new and wrapped in the packaging.

Bennis Hahn · November 29th, 2006, 02:20 PM

ehh, I switch between the different grades of Panny tapes all the time and have had no problems so far, so I wouldn't worry about that.

Kevin Randolph · November 29th, 2006, 04:20 PM

I used to work on the retail side of electronics and one thing that we were taught towards tape life, was that a VHS type of media had a shelf life under "normal" (I guess putting it on the shelf in your living room) conditions of 10 years. Meaning that by the way that magnetic media works (individually polarized segments of a magnetic media side by side) that over time each units polarity had the possibility of eventually effecting the polarity of the unit beside it, and that after 10 years, you would "lose" about half of the original image quality.

Now, at the time we were really trying to push DVD players as the "wave of the future", so that information may have been slanted to one side.

Just my two cents on shelf life, if there is anyone out there that knows more about this, I'd love to hear...

In regards to the issue that you're having, Jim, I would try to isolate the problem and buy a couple of new tapes and see if the problem persist. No more problem = bad tapes, prolonged problem = camera issue.

I hope you get it all sorted out...

Kevin

Jim Sofranko · December 8th, 2006, 08:46 PM

My problem was finally resolved with new tape stock. I used the new Panasonic AY-DVM63AMQ tape stock and had no more head clogging.

November 28th, 2006, 10:20 PM	#1
Jim Sofranko Major Player Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: West Shokan, NY Posts: 217	Tape age Anyone know what the shelf life of the Panny MQ tapes are??

November 29th, 2006, 09:29 AM	#4
J. Stephen McDonald Major Player Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Eugene, Oregon Posts: 909	Regardless of the claims made about the great longevity of optical disks, my experience is that highgrade tapes are very dependable and long-lasting, by comparison. My ME and also MP tapes for Hi-8 and BetaCam SP are getting as much as 17 years in age now and I've had no significant failures with them so far. __________________ Steve McDonald https://onedrive.com/?cid=229807ce52dd4fe0 http://www.flickr.com/photos/22121562@N00/ http://www.vimeo.com/user458315/videos

November 29th, 2006, 04:20 PM	#10
Kevin Randolph Major Player Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Columbus, Ohio Posts: 423	10 year half life... I used to work on the retail side of electronics and one thing that we were taught towards tape life, was that a VHS type of media had a shelf life under "normal" (I guess putting it on the shelf in your living room) conditions of 10 years. Meaning that by the way that magnetic media works (individually polarized segments of a magnetic media side by side) that over time each units polarity had the possibility of eventually effecting the polarity of the unit beside it, and that after 10 years, you would "lose" about half of the original image quality. Now, at the time we were really trying to push DVD players as the "wave of the future", so that information may have been slanted to one side. Just my two cents on shelf life, if there is anyone out there that knows more about this, I'd love to hear... In regards to the issue that you're having, Jim, I would try to isolate the problem and buy a couple of new tapes and see if the problem persist. No more problem = bad tapes, prolonged problem = camera issue. I hope you get it all sorted out... Kevin __________________ "... the drama is on your doorstep..." - John Grierson www.grvideo.net

November 28th, 2006, 11:03 PM	#3
Richard Alvarez Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: San Mateo, CA Posts: 3,840	He's asking about the 'life expectancy' (shelf life) of the Pannasonic tapes. Don't rightly know. As long as they are stored properly, in a cool dry place. Rewound occasionally... I would guess at least five, maybe ten years?

November 29th, 2006, 10:14 AM	#5
Richard Alvarez Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: San Mateo, CA Posts: 3,840	A lot really does depend on storage. I've got beta SP tapes that show drop outs that are twenty years old, but I know for a fact, for a number of years they were stored in an attic that was hot and humid. Bottom line. Take GOOD care of your media. And every so often, back it up.

November 29th, 2006, 12:56 PM	#6
Jim Sofranko Major Player Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: West Shokan, NY Posts: 217	Here's why I ask...I've been experiencing a persistant head clogging problem on my Panasonic DVX 100A. This has been occurring since I opened a new box of tapes (5) and shooting for the past week. I manually cleaned the heads each time the head cleaning indicator lit up on the camera when I've been shooting. This past weekend I did a thorough manual cleaning but yesterday it started blinking again after the first tape. I even used the previously-unused, head cleaning tape. But I still get the heads clogged error message. Camera has about 132 hours and has been well maintained. I'm thinking maybe the tapes may be the problem as they over 1 year old and haven't been stored well. They went with me on an overseas trip last year to a hot climate and have since been stored in a cabinet in my home. Not climate controlled. Any ideas??

November 29th, 2006, 01:02 PM	#7
Richard Alvarez Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: San Mateo, CA Posts: 3,840	Were the tapes sealed in plastic? Were you switching between brands? A year or two shouldn't make any difference for new tapes still in their wrappers I should think. Could be problems caused by a change in tape lubrication formulation. (See the NUMEROUS threads on the pros and cons of changing tape brands often or never)

November 29th, 2006, 01:22 PM	#8
Jim Sofranko Major Player Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: West Shokan, NY Posts: 217	No, I've always used the MQ Panasonic line although I did shoot a few weeks ago with a lesser quality Panasonic tape. But only 2 tapes. Tapes were new and wrapped in the packaging.

November 29th, 2006, 02:20 PM	#9
Bennis Hahn Major Player Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Richmond, VA Posts: 221	ehh, I switch between the different grades of Panny tapes all the time and have had no problems so far, so I wouldn't worry about that.

December 8th, 2006, 08:46 PM	#11
Jim Sofranko Major Player Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: West Shokan, NY Posts: 217	My problem was finally resolved with new tape stock. I used the new Panasonic AY-DVM63AMQ tape stock and had no more head clogging.