Thanks for the replies. I'm still getting familiar with the PDX10 (and trying to learn Final Cut Pro), and how to review and then carry on recording without overwriting anything - and what that all means in terms of the timecode.

I'm also not yet clear whether it is advisable to record on tapes more than once, or if it is a good idea to leave a tape in the camera when not in use. I may well try the tapes with memory chips, if only for the experience.

Hmmm... I don't use the IC chip tapes and my "End Search" function works great.

I was wondering about that too, as the manual makes no mention of it. I thought that the only difference that an IC tape would make to the end search is when the tape had been removed and reinserted.

What I'm not sure about is when you record over a previous recording, whether the end search goes to the end of the most recent recording or the last recording on the tape. I don't supose the latter would be much use.

Do re-used tapes just get recorded over, or erased first?

From what I know of the tapes and the camera, it seems the memory in the tape is only good for recording the title and index marks. Thee is a method to preselect the "good" cuts while the tape is still rolling or in the camera and these are supposed to e recorded with the index marks I think.

There used to be some talk about the memory also holding information like exposure and shutter speed and maybe other settings too.

This is now what is called a scene file and is now done on memory sticks for the more expensive cameras.

As a bonefide Sony dealer, I will try to call them on these issues and get someone to tell me the whole story.

I'll report back whatever I am told by our rep.

Sean

Actually, there is a significant difference between Sony DVCAM tapes and regular miniDV...

I went to a Sony products demo and they explained it all, this was two years ago.

As I recall, it had better lubricant, stronger tape, more layers, different material for layers.

Is it worth it? Well, consider that the tape quality is your best insurance, I'd say so.

However, if you buy a regular tape and record DVCAM format on it, conceivably, you should already be way ahead of other nonDVCAM cameras.