I just purchased a Cannon XL 2.
I was advised that some tapes use a lubricant. I was told this can cause a problem to the heads.
Question: What is the best tape to use in the system?

Appreciate the responses.
Matt

Once upon a time (like in the late 90's with Hi-8) this was a brief but real concern.

Today, it's ignorable.

If you want to be obsessive about it. Pick a particular tape stock and stick to it for ALL your work from now on. It makes NO DIFFERENCE what stock that is.

The "once upon a time" historical problems were only generated by swaping between so called "dry" and "wet" lubricated tape stock. (horribly inaccurate discriptions, BTW, but nothing better ever arose)

Again, today, it's largely ignorable and you'll likely never have a problem.

So forget about it and get back to work.

I don't think it's dry versus wet; right now, there are both 'dry' and 'wet' formulations on the market (Panasonic is supposedly dry, while other manufacturers use wet lubricant).

It's Sony and Maxell which had lubricants that would cause a reaction with other manufacturer's, so they changed their formulation.
http://www.philpang.com/tips/minidv_lubricants.html

(A moderator should be moving this thread to the tape forum soon...)

So i have decided to use Panasonic for my new xlh1 but there are loads of different panasonic ones, does it matter if you swith between the different tapes, i dont understand the difference. such as

Panasonic AY-DVM63PQ
and
Panasonic AY-DVM60FE10

Whats the difference? they cost the same.

Ive used the Panasonic AY-DVM63PQ for the past 4 years in everything from a Canon Elura, GL2 and XL2 and never had any problems with dropouts or general playback. Its been a dependable, durable tape stock for every purpose so far. I was going to switch over to Sony when I got my XL2 but the guys at B&H recommended I stick with the Panasonic. As for the difference between the Panasonic AY-DVM63PQ and the Panasonic AY-DVM60FE10 I'm not sure. I know the AY-DVM63PQ is considered pro quality.