All right, we rate an "*" -- awesome! Thanks, Frank. As I understand it, I believe Craig Berlin at Pro-Tape told me (and he knows his stuff), that there are really only two manufacturers of DV tape: Sony and Panasonic. All the other brands are just repackaged variations of these two. For instance all Canon tape is just repackaged Panasonic. I'm not sure how the others break down, Fuji etc. Quality now, that's another thing.

Hello,

I tell you one!
I shot 2 one Hr. tapes of a jazz Fest for a student at the local College, packed up and gave him the 2 tape for editing class the next day. They were Sony Excellence tapes.

The previous day to the jazz fest I went to an ASIAN Fest and shot 1 Hr. worth of tape.

I get a call from he at school, so I drop bye and bring my asian tape. I view his editing and he gives me back my original tapes and he and I view the first 5 minutes of my tape (which I had already downloaded on my G-4 the night before) . The VCR they use at school is a $2000. Panasonic or JVC.

I go home and put his tapes in my vcr and I notice they tend to be jerky and so is the first 5 minutes of my asian fest tape I had shown him.

Since many students buy the cheapest tapes they can, the heads on the school vcr, left some dry lube on my tapes which means the tapes are now NG.

Moral to the story : When in doubt, clean the vcr's heads, you have no idea what combination of tapes have been in it!

Actually Fuji makes their own tape and has made tape for Panasonic. Sorry fellows.

Hi Craig-
Perhaps you can help me. I have been searching for VHS tapes for a while now, all with little luck. I am looking for TDK pro grade in 30 and 60 minute lengths.

In the few places I have found them, they are like $4.00 each, while the comparable Sony or Fugi is only $.70 ea. I really prefer the TDK brand, but not that much. Do you have access to these, or at least a believable explanation for the price hike?
Thanks,
Keith

Fuji Pro is very good tape, Fuji Master is even better (for masters).