Does anyone have any opinions or ideas as to how many times you should/can record on a mini dv tape before it starts to cause you greif?

Do a search and you will find many many links on this subject. The link below is just one of them. Good luck.

Mike


http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=45873&highlight=miniDV+tapes

lol thanks dun know why i couldnt find that the other day :-)

never, ever, ever re-use tapes! Would you rather pay about $4.50 for another tape? Or, lose a client instead because you re-used a tape and all the footage was unusable?

See Jacques post above. Memorize the words in the post and you will be fine.

Most likely it will be fine... BUT... why gamble to save $3?




ash =o)

"How long to use mini dv tapes?"

Let's see... no longer than 60 minutes.

I used to be in the "Re-use" Camp, but have gotten stung by dropouts in critical areas. "Penny wise and pound foolish" to re use tapes.

Do not do it. Spend a couple of bucks. Not only what the rest say about quality, but, man you never know when you may need the footage you cheaply taped over. Bob

I see some strong opinions in favor of always using new tapes. Does this mean that if I do, I won't have any drop outs? Is that the collective experience of the "don't reuse" camp? If so, I'll switch camps too. Early on, I thought I was getting occasional dropouts with new tape.

I Re-use tapes when messing around, and experimenting with new techniques.

For actual production when it matters, new tapes. I'll even use a stand-alone tapewinder before using a brand new tape just to get any potential loose residue out instead of it coming in contact with the camera heads.

I find user error is the main reason not to re-use tape. User error is when you think a tape doesn't have useful footage on it... but it does.