The ones I tried wouldn't play. "Ch 1/2" was blinking all the time, and the display said "DV16:9" of some reason although it was 4:3 DVCAM. The image was jumping and there was no sound. They were recorded with a Sony PD-150.

Interesting, as I said I don't know what camera was used to record the tapes I had so can't be sure they were DVCAM. The material was SD 16:9 progressive though.

Paul.

Brian, I'm curious how your tests have turned out... I have recently purchased the A1 and am facing the same dilemma with tape stock. can you or anybody else weigh in on whether the AY-DVM63PQ or the AY-DVM63MQ tapes are better?

Also, I seem to remember somebody mentioning more dropouts on the 83 minute tapes. Has anybody experienced this before?

Cheers!

-joe

Sony minidv tapes
 

I just received my A1 - got lots to learn.
I have a whole stack of Sony MiniDV SD tapes. I will be doing mostly SD 16:9 anyway. Are these tapes good enough for the A1 or should I get the higher quality tapes?

Also, if I stick with the Sony HDV tapes, can I use them interchangeably with the Sony non-HDV tapes - or do I have to clean between tapes?

Thanks
Jim

SD tape will work fine in the A1, especially for SD work. The major difference with HDV-rated tape is presumably better quality control resulting in less tape-caused drop outs and uncorrectable read errors. Blank DVCAM-labeled tape will work as well since it is basically the same stuff but presumably higher quality. However, trying to playback a DVCAM format recording in a A1 is a different issue.

A need to cleaning between different model tapes types from the same maker is a maybe. Experience will tell.

So can anyone tell me the difference between the Panasonic AY-DVM63PQ and the Panasonic AY-DVM63APQ? They both are labeled professional grade but the APQ has Master quality on it. Are they the same tape but different package?

I'd be interested in knowing what or who you mean when you say "Canon recommends Panasonic." Did you see this written on a Canon website or material or hear it from a person?

The reason is that I attened a Canon workshop demo of the A1 recently put on by a Canon employee who works at the Canon Irvine California Service Center and he said that most problems the service center sees are caused by the use of Panasonic tapes becuase they are a dry lubricant and the Canon is made for a wet (or the other way around) but he insisted that Sony tapes were the only tapes that would work without damaging the A1.

I asked him to say this again and he did. He said not to even use the Canon tapes, but the Sony high quality tapes. He said the Canon tapes would work but that the Sony tapes would work better.

So, since this is so different from what you have heard I'd like to get to the bottom of the real answer. If you have a source, this would be helpful.

Strange comments from a Canon employee. Was he a technician or just a talking head good a reading scripts?

From Canon Support
 

I emailed Canon about tapes. Here is their response:

Thank you for writing to us. We value you as a Canon customer and
appreciate the opportunity to assist you with your XH A1.

Use only videocassettes marked with the Mini DV logo. For recording in
HDV we recommend you use videocassettes compatible with the HDV
standard. We
have no designated name brand for use with your camera.

We hope this information is helpful to you. Please let us know if we
can be of any further assistance with your XH A1.

Thank you for choosing Canon.

I guess it depends on who you ask as to what response you will receive. I have started using the Sony HDV tapes - so far they work great.

Jim

Amazing, I guess it depends on who you ask because everything these days are pretty much preference I guess.... Amazing.

I think good tape is good tape and cheap tape is cheap tape, regardless of whether it's labeled HDV or DV. I think manfuacturing controls and dropout inspection, etc., are better on the good stuff, which is the reason for using it. You could cover your bases and use Panasonic's AMQ tapes--they say "HDV/DV" so you get both.;)

Wait a minute... Are you guys saying that you can record HD footage on a regular mini-dv tape??? Like this one?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc..._DV_Video.html

I have a Sony HDR-FX1. Will the tapes above record HD footage on my camera? If that's true then I've blown alot of money on those HDV tapes.

Yes, you can record HDV on regular miniDV tape.
(There has been several threads about this)

William,
This issue is dropouts. Regular miniDV tape doesn't have as good a surface as tape marked for HDV. So there are more dropouts with regular miniDV tape. If an occasional dropout doesn't bother you, you can save a lot of money.

How many dropouts you will get varies from tape to tape. I get anything from one per hour to one every 2 or 3 minutes.

you have made my day in a way buddy,i have been thinking no one else gets drop outs with sony premiums,i get at least 1 or 2 per tape,but stangely touch wood recording edited films from pc back onto tape less than than the outside filming tapes if you get what i meen.chris