I have noticed (and gone to great lenghths to verify) that the field order of video shot on my Panasonic S-VHS (PAL) camcorder varies from shoot to shoot. Definately it seems random when the stop button has been pressed, and I suspect it is the same just pausing between shots. This makes the task of encoding interlaced full frame video a rather tedious one (ie I have to test the field order of every individual part of the tape, and separate my encodes accordingly).

Has anyone else observed this behaviour, and if so, are the any ideas on a) when it really does happen, b) if it can be avoided (either at the camera or during capture)?

Is this a problem related to a shitty camera, or is it just the nature of video?