"Jackie" <noreply@bigpond.com> wrote in message news:3F834F30.6050705@bigpond.com...

> I have read that it is unwise to mix brands of DV tapes in ones camcorder.

> Is this fact or fiction and can it be supported by actual tests?

If you want to risk your camera's heads, please tell us the results...;-)

There is a lot of experience that suggests that brand mixing (keeping

in mind that there are essentially only two makers of all the brands,

Sony and Panasonic, and that Panasonic offers two types of lubricants)

can be OK *if* done regularly, and *if* the high-end Panasonic is

avoided (I suspect the dropout rate increases doing this, but many

dropouts may be hard to spot) - OR, one should NEVER mix tape

brands for most reliable results. Take your choice, but I stick with the

latter, and have not had problems since my first tape (Panasonic,

shot in a "Sony-tape" used camera) messed up badly. I chose Sony

tape, but there is no difference in image or sound quality among

tape brands and "models" (it's a digital medium...). There may be other

differences, though, that may show in time...