mini dv's? do they...

derrick lenz · Posted: Mar 17, 2003 5:03 pm Post subject: mini dv's? do they...

alright i do all of my filming on a kick ass sony digital camera which is owned by my friend. i have the mini dv's and am trying to put them into a different camera to load onto my comp. however when i put them in it says to remove the tape from the camera. why is this? is the mini dv i use for a sony camcorder not compatable with a cannon camera? please help. i thought all mini dv's were the same.

Seth Martin · Moderator Joined: 12 Jan 2003 Posts: 891 City: Orlando

should work

do his tapes work? I know that different tape manuf. use slightly different ingrediants in the tape material. If he has used a different type tape it could cause problems.

derrick lenz · Posted: Mar 17, 2003 5:07 pm Post subject:

wow the tape that was in the camera worked. i just inserted it again and now it doesn't work. any ideas.

scott a · Ladies Man Joined: 13 Jan 2003 Posts: 9810

ive used the same tapes on a sony and canon and panasonic and i have never had any problems. mini dvs are just retarded sometimes...i have had my share of problems with them so i feel your pain. good luck.
as far as i know all mini dvs will work in all mini dv camcorders. unless im told otherwise i will assume that this idea is correct.

Josh R · Posted: Mar 17, 2003 8:52 pm Post subject:

Sometimes you have problems with audio or video dropouts when changing tape manufacturers, thats why I always clean my heads if I am going to swap from, say a Sony tape to a Panasonic tape.
There are a few compatibility problems with some cameras, its kinda just a wierd thing. Something taped on a Sony may not always work when played back on a Canon, or even another Sony...

BillJ · Posted: Mar 17, 2003 11:31 pm Post subject:

You can also have problems moving tapes between different cameras (even the same brand) if you record in LP (or EP) mode instead of SP. In LP mode the camera packs so much information so closely that other cameras can have problems reading the tape. Anything you want to keep for a long time should be recorded in SP mode.

derrick lenz · Posted: Mar 18, 2003 8:30 am Post subject:

i think i recorded in lp in my freinds expensive camera ($2100) and now that i'm trying to switch over to a cheaper camera ($500) its messing up. but that doesn't expain why one of my friends tapes that previously worked does not work in his camera anymore. any ideas? also it's pulling the film out and twisting it now.

Jim M · Wakeboarder.com Freak Joined: 17 Jan 2003 Posts: 2933

I don't know if this will help, but if they both have a 4-pin firewire port, you can get a 4 to 4 firewire cable and connect the camcorders, you can play on one and record on the other and I don't think you lose any quality.

derrick lenz · Posted: Mar 18, 2003 10:54 am Post subject:

thanks for the advice but i'm just trying to get my friends cheaper camera to work again. i'm not to worryied about the footage anymore. thanks for the advice though.

BillJ · Posted: Mar 18, 2003 10:31 pm Post subject:

Maybe the tape itself is now bad. I've seen that happen before where for some reason the tape that used to work doesn't work anymore. Maybe it gets caught in the camera or something, but it screws it up. So try a new cassette and see if that solves your problem. If it does, you should probably throw out the tape that doesn't work.

Also, you need to clean the heads on the camera every once in a while. My Sony will actually indicate when it's time but I don't know if all brands do that or not.

derrick lenz · Posted: Mar 19, 2003 2:13 pm Post subject:

i've got it to work now. i took the battery out and all is well. still ocasionally doers it but as long as i take the battery out it works then. kinda weird but at least all is well now.