Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Mixing DV Tape Brands

In DV's early days, Sony and Panasonic tapes used different lubricants, and if you used one brand and then switched to the other, incompatibilities between the lubricants (which get deposited on heads and tape guides) could cause your camera's tape deck to jam up or the heads to clog, sometimes permanently. Supposedly the lubricants were made compatible starting in 1997, but, I would still be hesitant in using different brands, as stories about these problems still arise. Pick one brand of tape, and “stick” with it. You simply won't see the problem. If you do have to use a different brand tape for some reason, use a head cleaning tape before and after the change.

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