On Sun, 09 Dec 2001 16:16:53 GMT, Stephen King wrote:

>I've never encountered problems with using mini-dv tapes from different
>manufacturers. For those who are having problems, what is the cause?
>Are the oxide formulations different? Are the physical characteristics
>(thickness, width) different? I'm very familiar with setting up an
>audio tape recorder for a particular tape; however, I'm unaware of the
>availability of similar tweaks in Prosumer DV cameras. Or is this just
>so much myth?

There are no set-up tweaks in Mini-DV, and there ***MAY***
no longer be the tape-compatibility issue there once was,
but it is claimed that lubricant incompatibilities may
have been the cause of problems. BTW, most (all?)
Mini-DV tape is made by only two manufacturers - perhaps
you were lucky and used tapes actually made by Sony
(or Panasonic), regardless of the brand...? I recommend
staying with one brand at this point for safety, given
the lack of solid information from the manufacturers
about Mini-DV tape compatibility...