which dv tape do you prefer?

[smitty]

Just wondered if there is any consensus on quality of image, certain tape for certain cams etc.

[Flying dutchman]

Not really. As long as a tape has no drop-outs there should be no difference (after all, a "bit" can be only 1 or 0). But it is advised to stick to one brand because the lubricants of the different brands may be chemically incompatible. If you mix different brands, head clogging in the camera may occur because of this. Or so I've read in the newsgroup news://rec.desktop.video

[Brian Ellis]

I have used many brands in the same cam without clogging. I believe this is an urban myth propagated by a tape manufacturer to ensure that once you use his tape, you will continue to do so. I bought my DV machine in late 1995 or early 1996 (serial # is 105 and they probably started at 100!) and have possibly run between 100 and 200 tapes through it of at least 5 different makes I can think of offhand. I cleaned the heads once in 7 years. It's still in excellent condition with better picture quality than many modern cams.

[Dr Mordrid]

I tend to use Panasonic, Maxell or Fuji in that order, but most names brands are OK.

The clogging issue was significant way back when DV first came out because different makers used different lubricants on their tapes. The problem was that when mixed some combinations of lubricants would coagulate and clog the cameras R/W heads. It caused such a stink that the manufacturers came together to fix it post-haste in order to save the DV format from going under. No longer an issue.

Dr. Mordrid

[smitty]

I see a Very wide price range and wondered if anyone is getting dropouts with less expensive tape?

[Brian Ellis]

Dropouts are virtually inexistent with all the brands I've used. These are not like analogue tapes and they can tolerate wide variations in the level between a 1 and a 0 per bit. In the early days, I deliberately creased a tape and it still played OK.

[smitty]

Thanks for the feedback. I think I'll use a what I think is good tape such as Panasonic or TDK.
smitty