Best Tape?
 

Whats the best brand of tape to use with the XL2 ?In the hand book it shows
Canon tapes being used as one would expect,but I have yet to see Canon tapes stocked in any of my local outlets.I have started off using the standard Sony mini DV tapes, like Pasonic they seem available in most outlets.I ran Panasonic in my JVC camera but switched to JVC tapes when my supplier started stocking them.Unfortunatly when I started using the two brands I got issues with the head needing cleaning.Seeing as my XL2 is new, I would like to find the best brand that suits this camera,then stick with it. What do you experianced guys prefer to use?

I have always used sony excellence with no problems at all. I have used these for years now and also with XM2 and never had any problems, just head cleaning every 4 months or so with sony head cleaner. The cheaper sony tape is probably almost as good, but I tend to think that with so much money spent on the rest of the production process with the XL2, saving a very small amount on cheaper tapes that may have a greater frequency of problems/less archive life/etc not worth the saving. Overall I definately recommend sony with the XL2.

Define "best." You ask 10 people, you'll get 10 different answers. Just pick one and stick to it. You've learned the hard way not to mix tape brands.

Now, for what's worth, we use both the Sony DVCAM and the Digital Master tapes, depending on the job. Yes, you pay more, but you get a more robust tape.

Jay

Hah. Jay, some of the work I do involves getting "user input" from a group of pilots with certain qualifications. We've found that your "ask 10 people, you'll get 10 answers" is really, in practice, even worse than that.

We now use the saying "if I need five opinions, I'll ask three pilots". Probably the same with tapes, camcorders, mics, etc.

Patrick's hit the nail on the head! Everyone has their own favorite brand.

But one thing most of us agree on is that once you pick a particular tape, it is safest to stick with it. Changing brands of tape has been widely reported to cause head clogging due to chemical incompatibilities between the traces of different lubricants that various brands of tape use. If you DO have to switch kinds of tapes, make sure to do a head cleaning in between.

FWIW, I use Panasonic 63PQ tapes and am perfectly happy with them.

yep panasonic PQ63's here as well...............no probs so far in 12 months

Thanks for the imput everyone,I'll stick with the Sony tapes.