Mini DV's for a Sony Cam

[shangrispa]

I've recently invested in a Sony TRV33 Camcorder and I've just spent 2X £10.99 at Jessops on a couple of Mini DV cassettes.

The instruction manual says that it's best to get Mini DV tapes that have got a 'cassette memory'.

Please could I have some advice on a couple of aspects to this:

Is it worthwhile getting tapes with this memory function?
Does anyone know of a cheaper place (shop or internet) than Jessops to purchase them?

Many thanks.

[serdar13]

Its upto you if you want to use minidv tapes with or without the memory function. Sony only print that in their manuals to promote their expensive tapes.

I have the sony pc110 and have used both tapes. Standard sony tapes (without memory chips) are just as good as their ones with memory chips. The latter comes in handy when digitising footage through firewire on your mac/pc as it will remember timecode.

If you just want tapes to use while filming your holidays etc then buy the standard ones as you wont notice the difference. I would suggest you buy a cleaning tape too (if possible sony too) and clean your camcorder occasionally depending on how much you use it and try and not buy different makes of tapes eg. if you buy sony stick with sony, if you buy maxell stick with maxell.

Hope this helps.

[serdar13]

Forgot, since I work in Central London, I use the following company for my tapes:

http://www.stanleysonline.co.uk/

[Ian McDonald]

AS a pro user I shop around for blanks......never found much diference between tapes, only price. If its a known brand (Sony Panasonic Maxell etc.) I just go for any one. I never buy tapes with chips at all, too expensive.
A tape cleaner is esential, but take care not to use it more than you need....is does abrade the heads.
Iuse this supplier and get good prices and a next day delivery.
www.doublevision-videos.com

Happy shooting !

Ian.

[JayX]

indeed, be careful with the tape cleaner. i only use it when i need to (ie my cams tried to play a tape it didn't like and now playback of other tapes is degraded)

and a key thing is to stick to the same brands, as switching between panasonic and sony for instance will screw up the heads in time. personally i use panasonic as i find i can get em cheap from a variety of places easier than some other brands, altho i have a few sony's from times of necessity. can't say i've noticed any difference in quality and this is on a £2k 3ccd cam.

[shangrispa]

Many thanks for all your help.

[tpr007]

Are any of the brand name makes any better than another (e.g Sony, Maxell, etc...)

Also, I am getting a DVcam soon, so need to know a place online which does cheap tapes - (packs of 10 or so)

thanks, and sorry for hijacking the thread, but didn't see need to start another new one!

[JayX]

they're mainly similar, but sony and panasonic seems the most popular, but are very different. so choose one then stick to it.

also be careful throwing the term DVCAM around. DVCAM is not MiniDV. its the same format (except at a different speed, MiniDV runs at 10microns, DVCAM runs at 15microns) but DVCAM tapes are for professional cameras, and are a lot bigger than MiniDV tapes (as a 60min MiniDV tape = 40mins DVCAM)