Hi

Just a question, Does any body knows if lighting conditions (like flash light or strong light towards the camera) can cause drop outs?

I did a few events lately and all came out good as usual exept one that had lots of strong light facing the camera and lots of flash light was taking place.

I always clean the head before the events(sony cleaner tape) and always use the most expensive sony (but not the one with the chip).

Please share any opinions/experiences

Thank you
Anthony

These cameras are not too susceptible to strong light issues with regard to recording.

But they are quite sensitive to EMI. Is it possible that you had a photographer fairly near to you and popping strobes? If so, that's probably the problem.

Mike, could someone turning on the wireless mic system in a hall cause a one frame dropout? In a recent project I got a single frame with mossaic noise right at the instant the subject turned on the mic at the podium. Incidently I had MY wireless system under the podium with the wireless mic taped to the stem of the flexible mic stem on the podium.

I'm just asking because it could be simply coincidence- it was a very VERY hot and humid day...and if I'm not mistaken that can increase the likelyhood of a dropout on tape.

I haven't found that wireless receivers cause any problem. I cannot think that a transmitter for wireless microphones could cause enough of an emi pulse to disturb the camera.

I can walk about 20 feet away from a police car and not have any more interference and those are quite powerful transmitters.

I'd guess coincidence.

I finnaly found what was the problem for the drop outs. There were created from the camcorder (VX-2100) during playback.
I did another playback and capture on my PC and had no drop outs at all. I am just wandering if the head was so dirty,,, I clean it every time I use the camera. Or the capture software.

Anthony

Cleaning the heads every time is way too much. Some of us clean our camera heads once every 2 years or so with no dropout problems. Such frequent cleaning will rapidly wear the heads. You don't want to know how much their replacement will cost you.

Select one brand of tape and stick with it. I've personally recommend using tapes sold by the manufacturer of the camera. While you probably don't have to do so, it is the most conservative approach. Sony tapes can be purchased for under $3.50 in small lots so price shouldn't be a deciding factor.

Thank you Mike.

Were you shooting in auto mode? If so, perhaps the flashing light got bright enough to close the iris and things got dark momentarily until it opened up again. In other words, the flashing light was confusing the auto exposure. This is not a drop out of course but it could lead to some dark frames. I don't know, just a guess.