I shot an entire wedding recently and came home to check the footage only to find it's nothing but dropouts!! I've never seen anything like this before. It literally skips every second, leaving major artifacts, discontinuous timecode, and only half the audio... for the entire day! I can't comprehend how this could happen. I even taped the rehearsal the night before and watched it that night. That was 10 minutes of smooth-as-glass footage. But the next day everything from the first shot to the last on the HD100 is nearly lost.

Thankfully I had two other cameras during the ceremony and one other recording throughout the day. However, I need to resolve this issue with the HD100 since it is my primary camera for professional work. This is beyond disappointing.

I was using Panasonic AY-DVM63PQ tapes in all the cameras, but I know the tapes are not to blame. The other cameras handled terrifically, and in subsequent tests the JVC will not function with any tape stock including the $10 ProHD tapes. My feeling is that the heads are damaged somehow and it is obvious the camera will need repair (which is unfortunate because this causes me to rent something for next weekend).

The only thing I can think of that I did before the wedding was to record a header on each tape and use a cleaning tape once through for 10 seconds. The cleaning tape was a Sony DVM12CLD and has served well in cleaning other cameras. It also says it can be used in any MiniDV camera up to 3 times consecutively (I used it once). The format I used for the day was SD 60i Widescreen, but the problem occurs in any format and is much worse in HDV.

I would very much appreciate any help anyone could provide. I have an example clip uploaded and will email the link to anyone who inquires. For some sections there is smooth video with only a few glitches that I’m wondering if there are any filters or software that could help these parts. Other than that is there anything else that could salvage this footage?

I just never knew a camera could malfunction so badly.

Chad,

Man that is bad, sorry to hear it. I am not clear on what is going on now though. If you clean the heads again and try another tape, does it still come out bad? If so, the camera needs to go for repair I guess. It is really good that you had back-up cams, and everyone should take note of that.

Also, even if the tape cleaner says you can use it three times, I would not. Just think of it this way, whatever it cleaned off the first time is still on that cleaning tape. It does not just disappear into the unknown!

Let us know how this turns out.

Mike

The only thing that comes to mind quickly is that the Panasonic tapes are the dry lube variety and since Sony uses the wet lube perhaps the cleaning tape does too. That seems the most likely incompatibility. I feel for you. That's a major disaster for a wedding videographer.

The only thing that comes to mind quickly is that the Panasonic tapes are the dry lube variety and since Sony uses the wet lube perhaps the cleaning tape does too. That seems the most likely incompatibility. I feel for you. That's a major disaster for a wedding videographer.

Warren may be on to something.
Have you used the Sony head cleaner on other cameras that ran Sony tapes?

You may want to run out and buy a Panasonic head cleaner and see if it fixes it.

If not, it appears that the head may be damaged, or it needs a more detailed head cleaning. Nonetheless, this problem would have to be fixed by JVC.

Sorry to hear this!

There's no incompatibility in the head cleaning tapes; which brand you chose won't make any difference there. I would have to say though that ten seconds is a bit too long to run one in my opinion.

Sorry to hear about that Chad. Really.

However, it's been said over and over that Panasonic Master tapes are notorious for dropouts (bad ones). I can attest to that. As alway I recommend JVC M-DV60DU tapes (AKA DVM60ME) which rarely if ever drop out. Earlier this year I went to Europe and shot 18 hours of tape with not a single hiccup on those mentioned tapes. This thing where people mention, "stay with the same brand and you'll be OK" and "Panasonic are the same as JVC" is a bunch of... Well you know what I mean.

Get the JVC tapes.

Sorry to hear about your problems.

Just came back from a 3 day shoot. Danish equestrian championships.8 hours of footage.Also something which cannot be done again. Opened my pc, saw this thread and really got the shakes. Using the same tapes as you and have been doing so since day one. Walked around for an hour too afraid to open my player.. Ok no problems this time, but come tomorrow I will be ordering the external HD.! Better safe than sorry !!! Hope you have your problem fixed.

As alway I recommend JVC M-DV60DU tapes (AKA DVM60ME) which rarely if ever drop out.
Is this tape recommended over the JVC-MDV63PROHD, the JVC ProHd tape.

This tape is recommended by the rental company I use (also an authorized JVC dealer) and I believe it is the one recommended by the JVC reps at Cinegear.

However, other than the fact that the one you recommend is a DV tape (ala Sony Premium?), and the second one is called an HD tape, is there any difference in performance if using the JVC DV tape or the JVC HD tape for recording? Would there be a difference if going back to the tapes repeatedly for re-capturing. (Also, the DV tape seesm to run about $6 and the HD tape about $9.50.

On a related note, is it all right to mix sony tapes and JVC tapes in the BR-HD50U? The reason I ask is that the unit plays back DVCAM which most likely would be shot (as it is in my case) on Sony tapes, while the HD100 video would be shot on JVC tapes.

I posted this recently in another thread about erasing tapes, but may be appropriate here too. Far too much emphasis put on tape brands, but I guess that can be understood. Just remember that your Chrysler dealer is not going to recomend CarQuest for your next part purchase!

Use this as a general guideline: (some may dispute it, and they are entitled to their opinions too!)

Do not buy the real expensive tapes just because you think they will be better! What is recorded is 1's and 0's, nothing more! The only problems you can have are drop-outs, or just plain bad tapes. I have used Sony Premium tapes, $3.00 each from ebay for nearly two years and have never had a single drop-out or other problem. Part of the problem some people have is paying $15.00 for a single tape, and feeling they have to reuse it because it is so expensive! Especially, if your reason is because you can't afford more tapes! Just buy the lesser expensive tapes and try them. If you have a problem, 99.9999% of the time, it will be because the heads are dirty, not because the tape is bad, or cheap.

Don't bother black-striping, (putting time code on) the new tapes. It isn't worth the time or wear and tear on your camera or deck. As the striped tape is used, the time code will vary slightly or be slightly different, maybe not in seconds but in frames anyway. (I did an experiment and found this to be true!) Just start where you left off, and or back up if you reviewed what you shot and stopped at a different place. Keep your camera clean and learn to trust that what you think you have captured is actually on the tape, as 99.9999% of the time it will be, barring a bad camera etc.

If you must reuse a tape, just do it! Don't black it over, as that just adds more wear and tear to the tape and the camera or deck. I reuse tapes all the time, especially when just experimenting around on things. Just rewind and shoot away! After all, if you believe in the black-striping the tape stuff, the time code will match anyway, right! Just think how many times those VCR tapes from Blockbuster have been used!

Prior to recording to a tape, I do believe it is a good idea to fast-forward the tape and rewind. Just kinda unpacks the tape and put a normal tension on the new tape. Maybe it is not necessary, but it is easy and it may find a bad tape even. Use a cheap deck or rewinder to save wear and tear on the camera.

Most every problem encountered by users of DV tapes, are because of dirty camera heads. Get a simple cleaning tape, they are all dry to my knowledge, as a wet tape would require that you add the liquid. I have an old one for VCR's but I have never even seen a wet DV cleaning tape. Just buy a JVC or other brand and use it at the first sign of a problem, or about 20 hours or so of use, or as recommended by your cameras manufacturer, see the manual. If you are about to record something you just can't miss, run that cleaning tape through for 5 to 10 seconds, can't hurt! Just don't over use it, like Boyd said, they are abrasive, but they are not sandpaper.

The consensus is that tape brands should not be mixed. I have no basis to contest that, and with different companies possibly using different lubricants, it could actually be a problem. If you run out of your particular brand of tape, just run that cleaning tape through for 5 to 10 seconds or so, and pop that different tape in----and go shoot!

Lastly, cleaning tapes are to be run through only once. Do not rewind and reuse. If it cleaned something off the first time, it may put it back on the second time. They are cheap enough and last a long time anyway.

I hope that this helps you and others out. Others may chime in with more info.

Good shooting---Mike

Do not buy the real expensive tapes just because you think they will be better! What is recorded is 1's and 0's, nothing more! The only problems you can have are drop-outs, or just plain bad tapes. I have used Sony Premium tapes, $3.00 each from ebay for nearly two years and have never had a single drop-out or other problem.
Good shooting---Mike
The JVC rep told me specifically that the JVC tapes for the HD100 hold a different tension than the Sony tapes and therefore the Sony tapes are not good for the camera and will get bad results.

Is there any truth to the tension issue?

So I've got some good news.... Actually some great news. The night I first tried to play the footage I tried the cleaning tape twice in the JVC and it didn't improve. In fact it got worse in that for a while it would just play blackness for large periods.

But today I ran the cleaning tape once more just because I have nothing better to do with the camera but keep trying and now the tapes playback most of the picture and sound! They will capture over firewire and there's a small glitch about 2 frames long once every minute or so, but I should be able to cut around them.

My question of course is: Why? Why would this happen? And why would my other cameras still not be able to play the tapes or capture them for more than 4 seconds at a time? Could this be a timecode issue? When I was recording the headers the other night I changed some timecode settings in the JVC menu. Mainly under Header Rec I set the TC Data to 00:00:12:00 so that the tapes could start at 0 TC and the recording would begin at 12 seconds into the tape. Shouldn't be a problem, but that is just one thing that I did before the malfunction. Also for some reason the TC Preset under TC/UB/Clock menu is now set to 02:24:58:25 though I didn't select that. I don’t think these are to blame, but something strange is happening.

I'm going to test it some more after I finish capturing this footage and I'll be sure to let everyone know what the engineers say about it once they get it. It would be a great benefit to this community if we could know what causes something this drastic. I unfortunately don't have the money for a hard drive recording solution.

For now, does anyone know of filters or software that can mask small glitches and dropouts like this?

Is this tape recommended over the JVC-MDV63PROHD, the JVC ProHd tape.

This tape is recommended by the rental company I use (also an authorized JVC dealer) and I believe it is the one recommended by the JVC reps at Cinegear.

However, other than the fact that the one you recommend is a DV tape (ala Sony Premium?), and the second one is called an HD tape, is there any difference in performance if using the JVC DV tape or the JVC HD tape for recording? Would there be a difference if going back to the tapes repeatedly for re-capturing. (Also, the DV tape seesm to run about $6 and the HD tape about $9.50.

On a related note, is it all right to mix sony tapes and JVC tapes in the BR-HD50U? The reason I ask is that the unit plays back DVCAM which most likely would be shot (as it is in my case) on Sony tapes, while the HD100 video would be shot on JVC tapes.
Hi,

JVC's cheap tapes work wonders. The tapes I get cost $3.00 a piece from Adorama. They come in packages of 10. I've not had any problems from the very beginning with these tapes. I did get several of the ProHD tapes you sited however I see no difference.

AFA the deck is concerned, I feed it everything but I keep a fresh head cleaner available at all times.

Good shooting!

If you must reuse a tape, just do it! ......... I reuse tapes all the time, especially when just experimenting around on things.
There is a school of thought that reckons a previously used tape may be PREFERABLE on an important job - any serious manufacturing fault would have shown up on the first usage! The downside is that the previous use may have introduced damage itself, being parked in an edit machine for an extended period, for example.

Perhaps best practice is that shown by many large broadcast organisations, who regularly and routinely reuse tape. In their case though, reuse is normally preceded by running the tape through a specialised cleaner to remove loose oxide particles etc, followed by a a laser scanner to check for damage and final bulk erasure. Tapes treated in this way are often preferred by users to brand new tapes as their condition has been positively confirmed, any damaged tapes discarded.

It's obviously not practical for smaller scale users to have all this equipment themselves, but firms exist to recycle batches for third parties. Try a search for "video tape recycling". It may give you a more reliable product, save money, and be good for the environment into the bargain!

The JVC rep told me specifically that the JVC tapes for the HD100 hold a different tension than the Sony tapes and therefore the Sony tapes are not good for the camera and will get bad results.

Is there any truth to the tension issue?

Jack,

Anyone ever heard the term "BS!"

However, it's been said over and over that Panasonic Master tapes are notorious for dropouts (bad ones).

Been using the Panasonic tape stock since 2001 and only had drop out on one tape. Now if you are talking about shooting HDV I can not say as that is fairly new but I had not heard what you commented about until I saw your post.

Been using the Panasonic tape stock since 2001 and only had drop out on one tape. Now if you are talking about shooting HDV I can not say as that is fairly new but I had not heard what you commented about until I saw your post.
I, like Chad, had been bitten hard by Panasonic Master Q tapes in a JVC camera. AAMOF, I couldn't believe my eyes and though it was a fluke. Then I tested, and certainly Panasonic Master Q tapes cause dropout in an HD-100. Somehow there is incompatability, in my experience.

Here is the answer from the JVC HD100 FAQ:
+++++++++++++++++
What media can be used with ProHD?

Current ProHD models are designed to record on conventional MiniDV and full size DV (deck only). JVC offers premium grade ProHD media (M-DV63ProHD) for mission critical use.
+++++++++++++++++
It doesn't say JVC brand has to be used. And obviously, more expensive tapes can have characteristics and qualities that are desireable to some users in various situations.

There are differences in basic tape stock, magnetic formulations and mechanisms, and I am sure some tapes are better in and some worse in various recording mechanisms.

Just a follow up on the Panasonic stock - now are we talking about the AY-DVM63MQ stock or the new AY-DVM63AMQ stock that has the dropouts when shooting HDV? I have not used the new "A" series yet but if that is the one that is causing the dropout, or if it is the older stock, or if it is both - let us know.

Perhaps best practice is that shown by many large broadcast organisations, who regularly and routinely reuse tape. In their case though, reuse is normally preceded by running the tape through a specialised cleaner to remove loose oxide particles etc, followed by a a laser scanner to check for damage and final bulk erasure.

I've worked for a couple TV stations and never seen anything like that... We mostly just make sure nothing's on there we want to archive and throw it into a camera bag. This is DVCPro tape, BTW.

Just a follow up on the Panasonic stock - now are we talking about the AY-DVM63MQ stock or the new AY-DVM63AMQ stock that has the dropouts when shooting HDV? I have not used the new "A" series yet but if that is the one that is causing the dropout, or if it is the older stock, or if it is both - let us know.
The Panasonic tape I'm referring to is AYDVM63MQ (http://tapeworkstexas.com/panasonic_aydvm63mq_minidv.html).

The good stuff (and cheap to boot) is JVC MDV60DU (http://tapeworkstexas.com/jvc_mdv60du_minidv_tape.html). Never had a problem yet with this tape. The tape label reads 60 minutes but the camera always reports (and records) 62 minutes per tape.

well a couple of things...
1. name the tape brand and some one has a disaster story to tell about it. it happens, bad tapes slip through.
2. Premium tapes come from mid roll, have better QC, and hence the price
3. in this case, it appears to be an after the fact head clog when playing back. I'd think even one more run with the head cleaner and all the D.O.'s might go away. this happens. sometimes you get a really bad clog like that where it takes a couple of passes with the head cleaner to get things good again. there is also manual cleaning, if you are so skilled and inclined.

I've been using the PQ tapes because they have worked well for me on other cameras, but I did see a couple of DO's in some HD stuff I shot a month ago, a few frames of loss, no big deal as it wasn't a ciritcal shot, and it was at the bottom of the frame. I've love to use $3 JVC tapes rather than the $5-$6 PQ's, but once you see the price of some other tape stock like HDcam, $9.50 for a premium DV tape will seem like quite the bargin


Steve Oakley

Chad, Sorry to hear of this problem, The GY-HD100 has become a very stable product, I get few calls on it and I cover half the country. I've had more than a dozen of them by now.

Ths camera should go to the Aurora, Il service center, I can give you the address if you email me at kfreed@jvc.com

Three things on this thread:
FIRST about tape:
We recommend the use of a pro tape of 63 minutes, not a consumer tape of 60 minutes.
We do not support the use of 83 minute tapes as they are so thin.
We do not require the use of JVC tape.
Sony and Panasonic and we make very good tape.
Sony and JVC tape for HDV is a better tape and it is the best tape we make for these cameras.
There are alway several people who get perfectly fine results from the cheapest tape they can find and there are some people who do not.
Some people never mix tape lubricant types. Some people do mix types and never have a problem until the day they have a problem.
Someone somewhere has had a problem with every type of tape ever made.

SECOND about reusing tapes:
What literally all of you do not know is that DV transports do not have an erase head in the mechanism. So the tape is not erased before it is recorded over. The mechanism must therefore lock on to the ITI sector and sync to the stripes already on the tape and literally do an insert of the new data to the old track.

As you can imagine, 10 micron tracks are rather small and close together. This works best with tapes recorded already on the same device, but any motion or jolt to the camera can throw it off a track so it must resynch.

I just had a call last week from a fellow who was given some DVCAM tapes to reuse. The DVCAM of course you know is wider track spacing since the tape is pulled faster so his poor camera never had a chance.

This is also why we don't support the 6 micron track pitch of the LP mode.

Just thought you might like to know.

THIRD about erase tapes:
Chris, you shouldn't take more than a couple asprin every few hours. But in fact this warning is because some people will take a bottle a day.

Same with erase tapes. I probably run them more often that anyone since I never know what people have put in my demo cameras. I sure am not going to say run a tape many times, but really 10 seconds isn't going to cause a problem.

And of course if a couple passes of a cleaning tape doesn't clear it there may be another problem.

I have seen two types of cleaning tape. There is a Panasonic I have that says hard on the shell. This is a more abrasive tape and I wouldn't use a hard type tape often.

JVC seems to attract more than its share of flack. Anyone reading (only) this string's headline would easily conclude an HD100 failed, destroying a production, which seems a bit unfair. In light of two pages of commentary and Mr. Terpstra's subsequent experiences, wouldn't a title like "Utterly burned by cheap tape" seem more appropriate?

Another string's title, "Motion Trails Galore", creates a similarly alarming HD100 impression. Reading through the string, the real culpret turned out to be an LCD panel with long refresh times.

Just an observation.

I, like Chad, had been bitten hard by Panasonic Master Q tapes in a JVC camera.

Actually it was the PQ tapes I was using, not the MQ (Master) quality. http://www.tapestockonline.com/pan63minprof.html

In light of two pages of commentary and Mr. Terpstra's subsequent experiences, wouldn't a title like "Utterly burned by cheap tape" seem more appropriate?

Both the title of this thread and the other one you mention were what I was experiencing at the time of the posting. Hopefully people will follow them to their conclusion to find out the truth of the matter (especially if it’s truth they’re looking for).

The fact is I've never had a dirty head this bad and I didn't know it could happen to this extreme. Especially since the footage from the night before was great. My conclusion after running the cleaning tape twice and it still would not record a picture or sound for more than two seconds was that the camera had bit the dust and ruined the wedding. It wasn't until the 3rd try that it improved. In fact I think it wasn't until I actually scrubbed (fast forwarded and rewound while in play mode x2 or x3) that whatever it was dislodged and the camera started working again. This was the mother of all jams. And the tapes are damaged. As I’ve said, they won’t play back in other cameras and still have the minor effects I mentioned. I’m just very glad they do play.

Trust me, I’ve found and used cheaper tapes than the Panasonics without problems. As Ken and Steve O. mention, for each tape brand there’s a disaster story to be told. I could have been using the ProHD tapes (and indeed I tried when I returned home) and would have had the exact same results. The problem was on the head, but as far as I can tell it was temporary.

I do think this is a great camera and that is why I was so devastated when it appeared to be failing miserably. It’s great for weddings and a dream come true for film-makers. And now I’ve been able to record all clean footage in SD and HDV and will continue to test it out. If I can avoid a service trip before this weekend that would be great.

Thank you to everyone for helping me out in this difficult situation. What I’m going to take away from this is to check the footage DIRECTLY BEFORE you shoot. Record a minute or two the day of your shoot before you start shooting. Rewind and check it. If your head is dirty, it should show then. If not, you should be OK. Also, could I assume that any time you put in a new tape there the potential that something might settle on the head? My feeling is that this is what happened to me when I recorded the headers on each tape the night before.

Just an FYI:

I having been using the AY-DVM63AMQ tapes in my Z1 for several months now because they are far cheaper than the Sony DVCAM tapes.

To date, I have not experienced a single drop out. Probably shot through 40 hours of footage.

Best,

Benjamin


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http://www.neo-fight.tv [The "Techno-Debate" Video Podcast]

Another string's title, "Motion Trails Galore", creates a similarly alarming HD100 impression. Reading through the string, the real culpret turned out to be an LCD panel with long refresh times.Thanks for pointing this out. I have changed the title of that thread to "motion trails on LCD monitor."

Part of the reason why I started this message board, was to get away from alarmist thread titles. As the admin here, I can exercise my prerogative to edit thread titles to a much more accurate and level headed description of any particular issue.

In fact, I'm changing this one too.

Anyone reading (only) this string's headline would easily conclude an HD100 failed, destroying a production, which seems a bit unfair... wouldn't a title like "Utterly burned by cheap tape" seem more appropriate?This suggestion is greatly appreciated and has been acted upon. I've changed the thread title to "Tape dropouts -- please help!" which is a much more accurate description of the issue but still leaves the sense of urgency in place. Thanks again,

Sounds good to me. I'm glad the problem ended up being something other than what I first thought.

I having been using the AY-DVM63AMQ tapes in my Z1 for several months now because they are far cheaper than the Sony DVCAM tapes. To date, I have not experienced a single drop out. Probably shot through 40 hours of footage.
Maybe that's the issue. They work OK in Sony.

They do not work well in JVC.

This suggestion is greatly appreciated and has been acted upon. I've changed the thread title to "Tape dropouts -- please help!" which is a much more accurate description of the issue but still leaves the sense of urgency in place. Thanks again,
Thanks Chris. I was just about to do the same thing.

As for your dropout issue Chad, I have a few observations from personal experience.

When I bought our HD100s back in August my dealer was selling me JVC's DVM60ME and they seemed to work well, but I wasn't doing anything "mission critical" at the time, just camera testing.
Since then I have exclusively used the recommended JVC "ProHD" 63 minute tapes (M-DV63PROHD) and have never had a dropout or clogged head issue with them (I just finished shooting over 70 hours of "ProHD" tape between two feature films.)
However, one time I bought a yellow/red-stripe "Pro" box by accident, (instead of the "ProHD" Yellow/blue-stripe box.) Externally these tapes look exactly the same, have almost the exact same product number (with only the two letters "HD" being different,) but almost immediately I recieved the message "HEAD CLEANING REQUIRED!" This condition was consistent and repeatable, even after running a head cleaning cassette.
Fortunately the recording head was not affected and the signal was still recorded to tape.

CONSISTENCY OF BRAND and MODEL:
Since in my case both of the tapes were JVC and high-end, the moral of the story is that the heads are highly sensitive to "changes" in the type and quality of tape. It has been said before, but consistency in brand and type is the key to avoiding clogged heads. So pick a tape and stick with it through the life of the camera, and don't forget to use the RETurn button on a regular basis. I "check the gate" after each setup is complete just as I would with a film camera.

LUBE:
Alot has been said about wet lube vs. dry lube and the statistics here on dvinfo.net seem to confirm that using any Sony tape in the HD100 is risky, even if you exclusively use it from day 1. There are some success stories, but the "Sony gummed up my heads" stories seem to outnumber them.

HEAD CLEANING:
Please, Please, Please clean your heads when you first open your brand new camera. I wish all camera manufacters included a head cleaning cassette in the box the way Panasonic used to with the DVX100.

QUALITY OF TAPE:
Dropouts are another matter however, as cheap tape will flake at some point and cause a dropout. Maybe not during the record, or even the first or second playback cycle, but you are playing with fire with $3 tapes.
My understanding is that JVC's ProHD tape has extra layers of protective coating to prevent flaking and problems from general wear and tear.

DON'T USE FIRST MINUTE:
The first minute or two of any tape is bound to have the highest rate of failure. That's one additional reason for putting bars & tone at the front of your tape. The 63 minute tapes give you 3 minutes of spare time, so just go for it to be safe. I've set my HEADER REC to start at 00:59:00:00 and record 1 minute of bars and tone so that my recording starts at 01:00:00:00.

The bottom line for me is that I keep a head cleaning cassette in my camera kit at all times, exclusively only use JVC's ProHD tape, and regularly check my recordings with the RET button. So far, so good.

Hi Tim,
Can you give us the part number or name of the JVC head cleaner?
THX,
Jon

Hi Tim,
Can you give us the part number or name of the JVC head cleaner?
THX,
Jon
M-DV12CL (http://www.jvcservice.com/store/ProductDetail.asp?part=M-DV12CL)

M-DV12CL (http://www.jvcservice.com/store/ProductDetail.asp?part=M-DV12CL)
Is there a difference between that head cleaner tape and this JVC head cleaner tape?
MDV2MCL
http://www.jvc.com/product.jsp?modelId=MODL027071&pathId=46&page=2

Last wedding i used 6 new tdk tape in SP mode.
2 of them have dropouts for about 1 sec with horizontal banding and ugly audio. What is bad?
I was in service 1 month ago because of the "remove cassette error" and i ask the guys, is the head in good condition?
He says: it's good, i dont need to replace it. It was an official canon service.
I never mix tape brand, always use tdk-s.
And still, the problem is here. I dont believe, my head is bad, because i make a test in LP mode for 30 minute, and i dont see any dropout.
2 of 6 tdk tapes are bad? What do you think?
In wedding situation this is very important for me.

thx,
Marton

Tim, How much do you pay for these tapes and where do you get them? On line or from a shop?

[QUOTE=Tim Dashwood]I have exclusively used the recommended JVC "ProHD" 63 minute tapes (M-DV63PROHD)



Tim,

How much do you pay for these tapes and where do you get them? On line or from a shop?