On 1 Feb 1999 22:32:16 -0500, skye@lightlink.com wrote:

>I recently sent my TRV-9 camera to Sony to repair a malfunction. Whenever
>I used the camera in the playback mode (scanning thru tapes with
>forwarding, rewinding and playing), after about 30-60 minutes it would
>freeze-up and stop working. Its self-diagnosis feature would kick-in,
>(tho this feature did not actually say what the malfunction was, only that
>it was malfuntioning).
>
>Anyway, after Sony examined it, they informed me that they could find
>nothing wrong with it. Inquiring what kinds of tapes I had used, I told
>them Panasonic and Fuji. They said that was probably the problem, and
>that I should use *only* Sony tapes, because it is a Sony unit and other
>brands of tapes might cause it to malfunction.

Mixing tape brands can definitely cause drop-out
and head-clogging problems with mini-DV Sony
camcorders, but I don't see how it could cause
your problem... If the camcorder is too "contained",
heat build-up could be a problem - and tape or
camcorder brought from a cold location and opened
in a damp environment could cause a problem, etc.
I suppose out-of-spec tape cutting could cause a
problem, too...

>As a former Hi8 user, I of course never used Panasonic tapes before, but
>swore by Fujis, which (for me at least) were the most consistently
>reliable. Anyway, the camera is on the way back to me, but does anyone
>know if this is a common problem with DV cameras?

Not for me, with a TRV-9, and two VX-1000's...
Good luck finding a solution.