quality of minidv after repeated use...

[phatfreeza]

noob question here... how many times can you re-record over a minidv before you start to lose quality? i ask because i'm recording over many times on a single minidv tape (lack of funds prohibits me to buy more at the time) ... so i'm just wondering if this is bad for the tape/quality of my videos.. thanks for your help!

[JimJohnD]

Because the tape stores a digital data stream and not an analog recording like the old VHS tapes they do not suffer from the same kind of picture degrade you get after you have used a video tape over and over. The tapes do still wear though. The tape only has to store 1s and 0s which makes them more resistant to the effects. When a DV tape is getting close to it's usefull life you will start to get dropouts where more data has been degraded beyond the system's ability to correct for it. But the video that transfers without errors should look as good as any from a new tape.

That is one of the BIG advantages of DV. You can make copies of your footage without the generational loss of analog video.

To help prolong the life of your tapes I would try to use the whole tape (don't just record a little at the beginning and rewind to reuse). Use the tape from beginning to end, then rewind to start over. This will keep you from wearing out the first part of the tape while the rest is like new.

Also store your tapes in a clean, dry enviroment and away from sunlight. I use a sealed camera case with some of the dehumitifying packs tossed in with the tapes.

Most of all, have fun.

[phatfreeza]

thanks for the quick and informative reply! much obliged!! i will definitely start to record from start to end now.

[DaveS]

phatfreeza - search for some posts here & you will find good info..rule of thumb was stated as 3-4x use of a tape before it starts to degade..one post listed some good factors that would affect that (e.g. pausing on one segment of tape, etc). on the other side of the coin is that tape is a great cost effective way to archive video, so it depends on what you are after (e.g. archiving of video or record, do a project and then re-record over that).