On Thu, 29 Nov 2001 21:46:05 -0000, "Tim Dodd" wrote:

>> How much should I worry about tape quality for miniDV?
>>
>> For example, one site I saw had Sony "Premium" for $5 ea.
>> and Sony "Excellence" for $8 ea.
>>
>> Does it really matter as far picture quality goes? Dropouts?
>> Etc?

>I've got two Premiums and two Excellence. Premiums both drop out but
>Excellence tapes are perfect. Of course, it could just be a bad batch and a
>good batch. I've used all the tapes a few times and the performance remains
>the same for each tape.
>
>I'd expect Excellence to cost more because of the chip. But personally I'll
>never buy Premiums again.

I have used mostly Sony EX, but also a bunch of Sony PR
Mini-DV tape, and can see no difference in performance
(including dropout rate). Even the PR 80, used in LP-mode
for 2-hour recording, showed no dropouts. With the 2db
better signal to noise (invisible with digital when there
is high signal level) of the EX, the EX ***may*** have a bit
better long-term storage ability (but I suspect other than
print-through and signal-loss will catch up with the
recordings first, so....;-)