Panasonic AY-DVM63AMQ DV/HDV tape
 

I see that Panasonic now has an "Advanced Master Quality" tape made for HDV and DV. Link to details (PDF).

List price is $17.95, but B&H has them for $5.99. That's significantly less than the $15-$16 Sony Digital Master tapes.

Any thoughts on the Panasonic Advanced Master Quality tapes? Has anyone used them with a V1/FX7? I just got a V1 and I'm trying to figure out whether I should go with the Panasonic tapes or consider the Sony tapes (ouch).

i've been using the cheap sony premium tapes since dv/dvcam came out. shoot once, dump to disk, on shelf for archive. many tapes are approx 10 years old and still play happily.

leslie

The AMQ replaced the MQ and I buy them all day long for a hell of a lot less than $15.95 Generally in the $6 per tape range. Use those for HD but use PQs for SD for years (in Sony cameras). Very happy with the tapes and no problems with the cameras (at least nothing attributed to the type of tapes)

Don

After doing research and reading a lot of different posts on a lot of different threads on a lot of different forums I decided to use the Panasonic AY-DVM63PQ tapes as they seemed the tape preferred by the majority of HDV users.

They apparently have almost no incidents of dropout which is critical for long GOP formats like HDV and they can be bought online for around $3.50 each all of the time.

This past weekend I found an Amazon Marketplace vendor who had the 10 pack for $27.00 plus postage so I ended up paying about $3.30 each and received them on Monday!

Thanks for all the replies. I'll probably end up with the Panasonic tapes.

My results have been similar to everyone elses. I have only had my V1U for about 4 months. I have used the AMQ tapes exclusively with no drop outs at all. My only complaint is that I don't care for the boxes. On the other hand, I have a friend who has had a V1U for over a year and he uses the basic Sony Premium (std. mini-dv) tape and he says he has had zero defects. Unfortunately for me, we shot a project together and used 12 of my tapes. It was his project but his tape stock was low. When all was said and done, he wanted to replace my AMQ tapes ($6.00 ea.) with the Sony tapes ($2.29 ea.). I told him to keep the Sony tapes since I would probably never use them.

I bought my first camera (a PD150) second hand from someone that rents out camera equipment for a living. His cameras consequently rack up a lot of hours of usage, so the type of tapes used are critical. He swears by the Panasonic MQs for a reason not mentioned in this thread - the type of lubricant used.

He wasn't completely anti Sony tapes, but did recommend against switching back and forth between the two brands, for the difference in lubricant viscosity caused clogging on the heads.

I can't vouch for any of this, for I am relatively new to video and this is all second hand information. However, I have just purchased my second camera (a V1) this week (excited to finally take it out for a trial run later today), and will be hedge my bets by using the Panasonic tapes.

It is my understanding that the really expensive Sony tapes use similar DLC (Diamond Like Carbon) coating that Panasonic uses. But I can't see spending that much extra for Sony tapes when the Panasonic AMQ tapes seem to be better anyway.