HDV tapes vs. standard DV
by Mike Johnson
on
May 29, 2008 at 9:39:53 pm
What type of tape does everyone use for HDV? We currently use Sony Premium DV. Is there any real difference (besides price) between standard DV tapes and HDV tapes? I've heard that the only difference is the price and the case - the tape is still the same. Has anyone compared the two? The debate at work right now is do we switch to using HDV tapes or save our money and stick with Premium DV.
Any thoughts or experiences would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
Mike
Mike Johnson
Final Cut Pro Editor
Drury Outdoors
www.druryoutdoors.com
Re: HDV tapes vs. standard DV by Zane Barker on May 30, 2008 at 3:42:57 am
[Mike Johnson]"Is there any real difference (besides price) between standard DV tapes and HDV tapes?"
The only real difference between the two is that they hold the HDV tapes to a little higher standard when doing quality inspection.
The important thing when using tapes is to always use the same brand and type of tape.
Different tapes will use different types of lubricants in the tape. Some are powder based and some are oil based. Mixing these lubricants on your camera heads is NOT good. I have seen it cause playback issues and recording issues.
[Mike Johnson]"We currently use Sony Premium DV"
I use the same in my HDV camera.
There are no "technical solutions" to your "artistic problems".
Don't let technology get in the way of your creativity!
Re: HDV tapes vs. standard DV by Ryan Mast on May 30, 2008 at 2:18:20 pm
For the past year and a half, I've been using the cheapo Sony DVC tapes (<$3 on BH) with the A1 without any problems -- I think I got a dropout problem once or twice on capture, no problem.
HOWEVER, going back to recapture footage a year later, I'm finding a few more issues with glitches or dropouts on the cheapos. I've even been careful to rewind and store them properly. So, if it's going to be a shoot/capture/edit/done once gig, you can save money on the DVC's, but don't plan on using them for long-term storage. Get some MQs or PQs.
Re: HDV tapes vs. standard DV by Todd Terry on May 30, 2008 at 2:53:43 pm
There has always been a lot of continuing talk about "is such-an-such tape really better than...."
... and I've known plenty of people that buy the cheapest tape they can find, and some that even resuse tape.
But you have to think of it this way...
Tape is the absolute cheapest part of the production process, yet one of the most important.
I just checked with our seller and they get about $9 for their most expensive high-grade 1 hour HDV tape, all the way down to $2 for their least expensive "consumer grade" MiniDV. Now, I don't know what your shoot rates are, but let's say they are $300 an hour (which I think is a fair average rate, and happens to be the rate we charge as our base). In that case, the value of their cheapest tape is worth the same as about twenty seconds of your time. But the value of their most expensive tape is still worth less than two minutes of your time. It's virtually nothing.
So if you are absolutely completely confident in the cheap tape... go ahead and use it and pocket the difference. But if you have even a gleam of a hint of concern about it... use the high-end stuff. The cost differnce is so absolutely nominal it is certainly not worth the worry.
Why give yourself grief when it may turn out to be penny-wise yet pound-foolish?
T2
__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
Re: HDV tapes vs. standard DV by peter rooney on Jun 1, 2008 at 2:13:06 pm
Interested in this one. For several years I had the misfiortune to work in a substandard college of further education in Ireland. We had daily issues with sony mini-dv tapes where FCP baulked part way through capture, reported problems with the footage, or simply refused to advance past the fault, always with the same brand. It got so bad I began to suspect that our high st store had been sold substandard pirated tapes bearing the sony brand. never got to the bottom of it but we all abandoned sony tapes.
Peter
