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  1. I have a few questions about improving my video quality.
    I am using a Samsung SCD101 minidv camcorder to record tuff truck events and wonder what would help me for settings on my camera. I will be taking the video off the camera using firewire then converting to dvd. Will on to my specific problems

    First and most annoying is this it can range from a second to a minute. Which ruins that part of the video

    Second at times it seems to just blur for a very short time but is noticeable would different shutter settings help this. As such I found ae settings should I use one of those like sports or high speed

    Other then that I only seen very random video distortions.

    Here is a vcd example of the type of footage that I will be taking
    http://www.t3rry.com/kimmyrolling.mpg
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  2. Member thecoalman's Avatar
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    That's from dirty heads, at least from my experience. Check the manufacturers site or your manual for what they reccoomend for cleaning. In my case it was any dry mini-dv cleaner cassette.

    Also buy one brand of tape and stick with it, different manufacturers use different lubricants on the tape.
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  3. Originally Posted by thecoalman
    Also buy one brand of tape and stick with it, different manufacturers use different lubricants on the tape.
    Does that only refer to the head cleaner because I have saw them in the stores by me and just remember seeing a maxell one but for normal tapes only sony and jvc and I have used both (is one better then the other for durability)
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  4. Member thecoalman's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by DarkShadow
    Does that only refer to the head cleaner because I have saw them in the stores by me and just remember seeing a maxell one but for normal tapes only sony and jvc and I have used both (is one better then the other for durability)
    No, I'm referring to the brand tape you record on. As far as the head cleaner that shouldn't make a difference, again check the manual or the manufacturers website for info on cleaning it. I'm sure it's just going to say any dry cassette cleaner but I'd check to make sure.
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    the coalman is referring to the normal tapes you use. Stick with Sony OR JVC and not both. Different lubricants are used by different manufacturers and a film of crud builds up on the heads where the two types react with each other. Get a head cleaning tape (any brand), use that and then only ever use one brand of tape to prevent the problem happening again. Unless you have worn the head out of course and cleaning won't do anything, new camcorder time.
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  6. Will I have one of each left and don't want one to go to waste so I will clean before switching then stick with whichever one I find is cheapest and likely to be in stock
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  7. Member thecoalman's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by Richard_G
    Unless you have worn the head out of course and cleaning won't do anything, new camcorder time.
    It's interesting that you have brought this up because I was wondering about this myself. I've read in another post that the head cleaner is quite abrasive and should be used sparingly. Any idea what kind of life you can expect out of it? Any reccomendations on what is too much cleaning? I'd really hate to have this happen in the middle of shooting something important but don't want to destroy my camera insuring it's not.
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    If the same brand of tape is always used and the cam kept clean and not allowed to get covered in dust, the heads will probably last until it is obsolete and you want a new one. If you let it get filled up with dust, use any old tape you can get hold of and have to run a cleaning tape through regularly, then it isn't going to last at all well. It's like most things, look after them properly and they'll keep going, abuse them and you'll end up with nothing but grief (a bit like women really.....).
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