On 28 Jan 2002 19:42:25 -0800, astrovandal@msn.com (jake) wrote:

>I have noticed at least one posting about the quality of Sony mini dv
>tapes. I've been using a vx2000 (love it, for the most part) and have
>noticed a lot of dropout recently.
>
>I thought it was because I used a couple different kinds of tapes but
>then I used only one kind for a while (sony premium) with a
>headcleaner and still get horrible results sometimes in the form of
>dropouts and multicolored pixel blobs.

Sigh....!
Even with a cleaning tape pass (Sony...), it sounds like
head-clog from mixing tape brands. DO NOT MIX TAPE BRANDS.
Try three 5-second passes with a *Sony* cleaning tape
in VCR-mode, with 30-second waits between passes. If
this does not solve the problem, the camera will need professional
cleaning (by someone familiar with the particulars of Mini-DV gear...).

>What I heard is that when Sony tapes get warm they get all gooey and
>mess up the heads. Has anyone else experienced this? What kind of
>tapes do you pros like to use (when you use mini Dv, anyway)?

Most (all?) brands are made by either Sony or Panasonic.
Both (all?) are good, but should not be mixed...

>I pound nails for a living and I'm saving up for a century optix .65,
>so price is also a consideration.

Save your money and get the Canon WD-58...