Re: Defective tape catastrophe, time for tapeless?
 

Thank you Noel, tape is on its way to Sony Media Center and I will certainly try that if I am still in dire straits!

Re: Defective tape catastrophe, time for tapeless?
 

I was one of the last of the group of videographers I know to go tapeless, and that was 5 years ago. I've never had an issue. Any camera with moving parts that wear out will eventually cause issues to the tape running through. I used to have to send my Sony VX cams to some place in Boston just to get the tape mechanisms changed with all new parts. It was close to $500 per camera. I'm SO glad I no longer have to do that.

Yes, you NEED to switch to tapeless.

Re: Defective tape catastrophe, time for tapeless?
 

Feel a bit funny asking this one but here goes...

I understand I should use the Sony software for proper transfer of digital media, does this mean I MUST transfer direct from camera, or can I slide the card into the slot on my laptop?

I know I should not do a copy/paste type transfer.

Re: Defective tape catastrophe, time for tapeless?
 

Only if the file splits! On AVCHD format once a clip gets to 2GB the camera makes a second clip and to seamlessly join them together you need to use the software from the Camera manufacturer. However don't sweat, yes you can put the card into your computer's card reader, no problem and the software will pick it up from there. It might ask you to connect the camera the very first time but after that you can simply pop the card into the reader..no need for the camera!

You will have to get used to the way cards work as opposed to tape too. With tape you can, for instance, add a bunch of short takes using stop start on the camera and you end up with a continuous sequence when you capture the footage. With cards, every time you hit stop a new file is created so when I started I ended up at a wedding with many hundreds of clips to sort out simply due to my shooting method!

You will however get used to it and being able to capture a hour of filming to the computer in a few minutes is awesome!

Re: Defective tape catastrophe, time for tapeless?
 

My last wedding that I shot on mini DV tapes was with the Sony VX1000. When I transferred to the computer the ceremony part was some blue screen with tons of dropouts.Horror.I had to refund the client and give them what was salvageable, That was about 15 years ago. I tried playback on other same model cameras with no luck, even had the tape go through the Sony DSR 2000 pro studio deck with variable pitch heads and still nothing. About 2 years ago I was cleaning out my house and came across my low end consumer Panasonic model PV something that I picked up for like $30 from a sidewalk sale. My original tape cameras were long gone but this little camera was kept just so I can one day transfer the plethora of old DV taped to DVD sometime. Well, I was reading some stuff on the web a while back about tape playback issues being corrected on other consumer cameras so I tried it. Worked perfectly. Not a single dropout. I contacted the client to tell them the news. Go figure.

Re: Defective tape catastrophe, time for tapeless?
 

... and don't tell me you never ever rewound a bit of tape just to check, and then recorded over the bit you wanted.

Re: Defective tape catastrophe, time for tapeless?
 

The ceremony was taped non stop from the entrance of the bride with dad to the couple exiting. This took up 30 minutes as it was not a full mass. There was no gap in the entrance, speeches, vows and kisses. The Sony would have, under normal circumstances indicated a head clog with a symbol in the viewfinder, It didn't so I had no reason to stop and check. I always use new tapes for each job and head cleaner tape every 5 or so weddings.

Re: Defective tape catastrophe, time for tapeless?
 

UPDATE: New NX3's have arrived and I love them, now the bad news: Tape was returned from Sony Media Services and they could not remedy. I have tried Noel's suggestion (I think) and have connected my FX1000 to computer with firewire, started the capture (Using VideoStudioPro's capture) and tried fast forward and rewind. Rewind seems a lot clearer. The problem of course is that the ingested/captured file is still no where near useable. I really hate to throw in the towel, any other final suggestions/recommendations?

Recap: MiniDV tape has blue screen during playback, but I can see images while simultaneously pressing fast forward or rewind.