I use the Sony middle grade (purple) MiniDV's and have been backing up my recordings to DVD and then reusing the same MiniDV tape. How many times is this OK to do on one tape?

Is there a standard working number on doing this?

Thanks in Advance!
conga

Most people who frequent these boards will say never reuse a tape, that the number of dropouts will increase. They also warn against mixing tape brands. But so far no one has been able to point me to any study, solid theory, or manufacturer's written statement to support those positions. To me this is superstition, not science. I do both of those things often.

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Fred

I do not know how many times a DV tape can be used but DO NOT COUNT ON A DVD as a long term archival media. DVDs do in fact go bad and what is on them in most instances is lost forever. DVDs, especially cheap ones are prone to corrosion and cracking. Scratches or cracks on the top side, the side not written on, can also render a DVD useless.

If you want to keep the stuff you recorded on the DV tape then keep the tape and the DVD for achival purposes. DV tapes are NOT that expensive. I also recommend that you make at least (2) copies of each DVD you burn.

I have been converting our family VHS and 8mm tapes to DVD for the past 2 years. Recently I decided to put some of these DVDs onto a hard drive. It is a good thing that I made (3) copies of each because I have several instances where only (1) DVD of (3) copies still worked.

That is a very good point. When I say I reuse tapes, it's in this context: I shoot a stage production or event with several cameras, sometimes even several performamces, edit it all down to a final cut and that's what goes on the DVD. But that final cut also gets archived back out to DV tape. Then all the other tapes that were used in the shoot are expendable to me.

I'm curious, vid. The 2 DVDs that wouldn't work...do you mean they wouldn't play or they just wouldn't copy to the hard drive? I think the latter process is more demanding because a player is willing to skip data it can't read, but the copy command is not. I've had the experience of not being able to extract vob files. So, in addition to the DV tape archive, I make a data copy of the DVD directory and run a verify after the burn.

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Fred

I probably have 100 CDR's that are no longer readable. I used Verbatim blanks almost exclusively because I got a good deal on them from Sam's Club. Older ones from the same company are still going fine but those from a period of about a year are going bad all the time. I certainly wish I had archived some of the stuff on those CD's elsewhere too. It's apparently lost forever and that includes a lot of photos I took that were very important to me.

WOW...good thing I asked...I will be keeping ALL my MiniDV's from here on out...now if only I hadn't recorded over the previous one's!

With Gratitude
Conga

I've heard that MiniDV tapes should not be reused.

__________________
Gary Hendricks
Desktop-Video-Guide.com

We hear a lot of things in the course of our lives.

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Fred

When audio and VHS tapes were still the norm I would never put anything important on a used tape, only new. Recordings that I felt were of little value could go onto used tapes though.

I've sort of carried that philosophy over to DV, though maybe that's unnecessary with a digital format.

Those who say not to mix tape manufactures usually argue that each tape type uses different kinds of lubricants, and when all of these lubricants mix together, your tape heads start to gum up. I also remember back in the day certain tape audio tape decks simply sounded better with certain brands and grades of tape.

I find it safe to just use the same tape manufacture as my camcorder. If you have some used DV tapes, or tapes from another brand, just keep them around for emergencies.

Vid, I think your wrong, because in the November 2004 issue of Consumer Reports it said "for long term storage, back your footage to DVD". DVD is the best arcival method, because it can last up to 100 years under proper care. It also said in CR that the only way that you can hurt a DVD is by schaching and cracking it. DVD are also more durable than tapes. I wish had a DVD burner for arcival purposes. Also I think that you should not reuse a tape.

Camcorderbuyer, I can not find the statement you have quoted: "for long term storage, back your footage to DVD", in my November 2004 issue of Consumer Reports. Since my issue is 74 pages can you provide the page number where you saw the statement you quoted?


Rich

I have optical media that is literally deteriorating. Properly caring for your recorded DVDs is one thing; the ability to predict poorly manufactured media is an entirely different matter, which is why one of the original posters suggested backing up to DV and DVD. When I'm giving a finished product to a third-party, I usually back it up to VHS as well, since I've encountered many DVD players that are finicky about various brands of DVDs and how they were burnt.

Optical media really isn't all its cracked up to be (was that a pun?). Analog tape (audio and video) had its share of problems, but they were far more predictable. And again, if you're distributing the finished product, you best believe people will abuse it, and subsequently ruin their copy, asking you for another. Unfortunately its not like scratching a record, where one groove gets screwed up; scratch a DVD and you can't access any content from it.

DVD is a great distribution medium (cheap, compact, and playable in tons of devices); it's a horrible archival medium (easily destroyed, prone to manufacturing defects). There's a big difference between the two.

When I started noticing problems with my CDR's I called Verbatim to complain. They gave me that speech about optical media lasting 100 years and flat out accused me of being a total idiot to the point of them screaming that nothing could possibly be wrong with their media. Well there is. I used common computer hardware and software to archive all sorts of things and now that stuff is gone.

This is actually what got me out of the computer consultant business. I learned to hate computers that day. Those people at Verbatim not only have lied about their product but they refuse to even address the possiblity that it isn't what they claimed. They know their liability and they are scared to death. They wouldn't offer any possible soloutions to my dilemma because they couldn't admit any problems exist. Thanks a lot Verbatim.

I STRONGLY suggest everyone avoid their products like the plague. Verbatim makes bad CDR's. My guess is that a lot of other companies will have similar problems in the future.

In fact lots of problems already exist. Check the web for reports of optical media going bad. It is far more common that you might think. Read the info on this web site if you want the real facts. Check out the links from there too. CDR's often fail in less than 2 years. Believe me I know the hard way yet companies still claim 100 year durability. Horse hockey. Check out this web site also. It is a discussion forum about the quality of digital media and has a lot of info on what lasts and what doesn't.

Not only Verbatim. I've had this happen with Sony CD-Rs and some Office Depot branded discs, though I'm not sure who originally manufactures those.

It's kind of wild that I have 5.25 discs from a Commodore c64 that still work, but CD-Rs that act goofy after only a year or two.

I know this thread was posted ages ago, but I have to respong that the comments on CD-R and DVD-R and DVD-RW. HAs anyone tryed TDK and Memorox media. I had those media for 2 years now and their still working well. The pictures are also clear still. A comment for poncho, I found that on the camcorder secton on my CR November 2004 it said that DVD's do last 100. Gosh what can break them. When I was a little miget, DVD's were rare, but my parents had some DVD that they burnt of some lifelike video. There are considered cheap media today. Anyway, I scractred on DVD very hard to find what was indside. I played frisbee with my dog, with the same DVD I scratched and by the end of the day, the DVD was beat up. In the evening, my parents played the same DVD and it work. I thought I was going to get killed! The same DVD can still play today. What do you say to that!