Recording to end of the tape

[Jayell]

Do I recall someone saying you shouldn't actually record ALL the way to the end of a DV tape (I'm using a Canon HV40 with an HD tape). I've gotten everything off that I've recorded so far but have about 4 minutes left. Better to change tapes now?

Edit: .. and no it's not an issue of being in the middle of an important recording and running out .. I just thought I remember something about having trouble capturing if you run it all the way to the end.

[Chuck Engels]

Hi Jayell,
I have never had a problem capturing tapes that have run all the way to the end, never. And that is out of 100's of tapes.

I also wanted to say that you don't need to use the HD tapes, Standard MiniDV tapes are perfectly fine, that's all I have ever used. There is really no difference between the tapes that say HD and the ones that don't, just the price is different

[Dave McElderry]

I don't know specific to video tapes, but I remember years ago that we used to avoid recording at the very beginning and end of audio tapes, the reason being that the fast-forward and rewind was supposed to stretch the tape when coming to that sudden (WHACK!) stop at the end. Since then they've put smart technologies into place that know when the end of the tape is approaching and the speed is greatly reduced as the end is reached. I'll put my money on Chuck. I don't think there's much to worry about.

[Jayell]

I also wanted to say that you don't need to use the HD tapes

That subject I clearly remember .. as it occurred a few days after I bought a pack of HD tapes.

I'll put my money on Chuck. I don't think there's much to worry about.

Thanks for the explanation, Dave. Maybe that's what I was remembering. (Wow! I actually remember things once in awhile. What a thrill.)