Tape problems
 

I recently had the first 5 minutes of two video tapes show pixelation or some sort of glitch, messing up the picture. I just cleaned the heads a week ago.

I am wondering if having the blank tapes (in their plastic containers) loose in my camera bag along side several camera batteries could have caused the prob.
Can electiricity from video batteries affect a tape in a plastic casing??
thanks

Hi Rich...........
 

Short answer: No.

If there is no current running through a circuit there can be no magnetic field from that current. A battery on it's own, not connected, cannot create a magnetic field (well, ok, no battery I've ever come across, no doubt someone will come up with one that can, but in my space/ time continuem, no!).

As for your problem, hmm.

Could be particles in the bag getting transfered (got any cats?).

Maybe do what I do, run the cleaning tape before putting any new tape in the transport.

How long have these tapes not been used? Could be you need to FF them then rewind before trying to write to them.

Is the bag kept at a low/ high temp with the tapes inside, then the tapes transferred to a cold/hot cam? Not good.

The fact that it's only the first 5 minutes suggests a problem with camera/ tape temp/ humidity.

Best I can do for the moment.

CS

You use the cleaning tape that often? I was taught that you should use it very sparingly, as it sands down the tapeheads on your camera. You dont want that.
I see that the instructions on the head cleaning package says: caution, avoid using more than necessary, as it could damage heads.

Rich,

I run the tape head cleaner through once before any important paying gig. That's sometimes twice a week, about five or ten tapes apart.

I'd try running the head cleaner again. Set the camera up, and roll a tape ALL THE WAY through to the end. Let the tape roll out to stop. Check the first five and last five minutes of the tape. IF you have dropouts at these points, then you might have tension reel or tape head issues.