Does Mini DV tape have a useful storage limit?

Question

Does Mini DV tape have a useful storage limit?

Lately, I tried extracting some clips from a 2000 tape and ran into numerous dropouts, although my original clips from that tape uploaded (years ago) with no problems. It appears to play OK on the camera. A couple of other tapes from the same time period gave the same results. Newer tapes are OK. I also tried a different camera.

Does anybody have any experience with how long a stored Mini DV tape will still be good to extract video clips from? I have some going back to 1999. They are just sitting on edge in rows in a wooden drawer. Most of them I have already extracted the clips I wanted and stored the tapes for possible future reference. The tapes were all recorded as new and never re-used. I probably watched each tape once on TV and then uploaded selected clips onto my computer and then stored the tape in the drawer.

G5 Dual 2G, Mac OS X (10.5.6), 2G ram, 2 internal hard drives, 2 external hard drives

Posted on Jul 1, 2009 5:49 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Jul 1, 2009 11:10 AM in response to Brian Townsend

I haven't heard of this problem and I have tapes going back to 2000 which seem OK.

Did you, by any chance, record these tapes in LP Mode as that can cause dropouts if they are played back on a different camera from the one that recorded them?

LP can also cause dropouts even if you use the original camera so it should never be used.

Reply

Answer 2

Jul 1, 2009 2:24 PM in response to Brian Townsend

Sadly it could also be the brand of tape used. Memorex and Maxwell do not do well and degrade rather quickly. They can also end up breaking in video decks. Sony is much better and it what is used by most professionals.

It could very well be the camera or deck you are capturing the video from.

Reply

Answer 3

Russ One

Level 1

100 points

Jul 1, 2009 4:01 PM in response to Ian R. Brown

All magnetic media has a useful life, generally 3-5 years. A lot has to do with the conditions it was stored in. High humidity and High temps can shorten it's life. The bonding agents used to "glue" the metal oxide to the plastic base begin to break down and can cause the oxide to flake off or get gummy and stick to the heads and guides causing more oxide to come off. The quality and brand of the tape also makes a diff. In the analog world it would cause minor but not complete dropouts and loss of the higher frequencies. In digital it's usually a disaster.

Reply

Answer 4

Jul 2, 2009 6:18 AM in response to Brian Townsend

Thank you all for your input. Sometimes I feel very much alone out here so it really help to know I can tap into many other people's experience in this forum, thanks!

I never use LP mode but those troublesome tapes are Maxell, hmmm. I have been using Panasonic pro tapes lately. From now on I will make a point to store the whole tape on DVDs before the tape can degrade (of course, then there's the lifespan of DVDs). I also tried 2 cameras, one very new, and that didn't make a difference.

In this case, I found working on a different hard drive made a big difference too. I had been using a firewire external drive and switching to one of the internal drives made a really big difference in the upload reliability.

Reply

Answer 5

Jul 2, 2009 7:06 AM in response to Brian Townsend

Dodgy FW cable or connector?

FW HDs almost full or badly fragmented?

Reply

Answer 6

Russ One

Level 1

100 points

Jul 2, 2009 7:45 AM in response to Brian Townsend

I have been using tape since around 1958 and never had much luck with Maxell and that includes their CD-Rs.. I use Panasonic DV tape and so far they hold up well. As far as DVD abd CD-R media goes I use Verbatim DVD-Rs and Taiyo Yuden CD-Rs, by the thousands, and have found them to be the most reliable and compatible.

Back in the analog tape days there was 3M and Ampex in the mainstream. The 3M tape, which is what I used, has held up very well but the Ampex stuff peolpe bring in for transfers just sheds all over the place.

Reply