Can I reuse Sony miniDV Premium tapes?

[rudympohl]

Hi There:

I just bought a very well taken care of Sony DSR PD150 whose orginal owner only used Sony miniDV Premium tapes in it. These tapes cost me $5-6 each here in Canada (in a 5-pak) and I need to practice shooting with the camera as I'm a total rookie. Can I reuse these tapes a few times for practice without risking damage to my camera?

Thanks,
Rudy

[Bobby]

Hi Rudy.

I don't think there is ever a risk in re-using tapes as far as the camera itself goes. There may be some minor loss of lubricant on the tape over time, but I can't see it being that significant.

On the other hand, I never re-use tapes. It's an archival thing mostly.

If you plan to re-use the tapes professionally or for serious work, you might consider getting a bulk tape eraser to make sure there is nothing recorded from the previous version.

[Chuck Engels]

I agree with Bobby, reusing tapes a time or two for testing purposes isn't going to cause any problems.

[tiny]

I know a lot of people are concerned about a greater chance of a frame drop. But if it is for any non professional application, then I would think the risk of a frame drop more than justifies the savings of re-using tapes.

[Dave McElderry]

I'm using Panasonic's Pro line and since I do a lot of taping of family and church events I just tape over them. Once I've got it transferred to the hard drive I make a backup copy and tag the tape as okay to record over. I have some that I've probably used at least 6 or 8 or more times without any dropouts ever encountered. No, I won't continue to use them forever, but I don't see any issues with this at all. I do agree, though, that if you have something that's important to have a perfect recording, use a new one.

[Bill Hunt]

With limited reuse, there should be no problem. However, I am with others in that I never reuse my tapes. I keep them for archiving.

Now, in the western US, Costco has 10 packs of high-quality miniDV tapes for US$20.00, so I have no problem doing things my normal way.

Good luck,

Hunt

[Peru]

If you compare what we have invested in hardware and software, what's the cost of a few tapes?

[jackfalbey]

My $0.02 as a Sony PD170 & PD150 owner...

Reusing tapes shouldn't cause any damage to the camcorder as long as you stick to one brand of tape and run a head cleaner from the same manufacturer every now and then. The real problem comes from mixing different tape brands or sometimes even different product lines within the same brand (the various types of lubricants can clash and gum up your cam's heads).

The only risk from reusing tapes is that you may start to get dropped frames as the tape wears out, so for any paying job or anything that can't be reshot - like a wedding - I would only use a new tape and use it only once.

My Sony PD's have only ever been fed Sony DVM60PR tapes ($2.25 each here in the States) and never reused, and I've never had a single dropped frame in almost 150 tapes!