Hello,

I've had the HC-9 now for about 3 months, I really do love this camera but within the last month I've been experiencing dropped frames during playback of my recordings, even older tapes that played back fine before the problem started are now dropping frames. The frames normally drop every 2 minutes during playback, and normally would freeze the screen for about 1-2 seconds.

I brought it in to the Sonystore and they sent it away for repair, they said the heads were misaligned. Problem was fixed and tested at the depot. So I tested in here at home with a brand new tape, recorded for 10 minutes and played it back without a problem. Last night I recorded a live band and the problem has returned when I went to play it back today. I've used brand new Sony HDV tapes and JVD tapes.

I will be returning it back to the Sonystore but I wanted to ask if anyone has experienced this before? Do I just have a lemon? Or am I doing something wrong?

Don't mix tape brands. Sony uses a different lubricant than others and switching could gum up your heads. Run a cleaning tape for 10 seconds and then pick one brand and stick to it.

Thanks, I'll try that. Is any tape cleaner kit good? Or do you have one you recommened.

I obviously meant JVC tapes in my first post, but I have been mixing between JVC DV, JVC HDV and Sony HDV. The sony's are rather expensive but I'm hoping to get good use out of them. Since buying fresh ones each time is just to costly at this time.

Would any of this have ruined my tapes? Or is it safe to reuse them after the cleaning? I plan on sticking with the Sony's.

Never re-use your tapes. They should go through your camera exactly twice: once when you shoot and once when you capture.

Don't waste your money on HDV tapes. There is no difference in picture quality between these and regular MiniDV tapes -- it's all digital. Sony Premiums are fine and can be had from the sponsor at the top of this page for a little over $2 each.

Try this:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...g_Cassette.html

And this:

http://www.tapeonline.com/MiniDV/Sony_DVM60PRL.aspx

And this:

http://www.tapeonline.com/Cleaning_...y_DVM12CLD.aspx

I got the cleaner here so I will test that out tonight.

As for the tapes, I paid 20$ each for the 2 Sony HDV tapes. Is the lubrication different on Sony HDV tapes and Sony DV one's? If so I will not use the HDV's and just buy Sony DV's. If they are the same, I still would like to reuse the HDV one's for video that is less critical such as vacations etc. Instead of jobs I get paid for...which then I will new tapes. Tapes should be able to be reused many times can't they?

I appreciate your info on all this

The more you re-use your tapes the more you increase the chances of a dropout, which can be very problematic in HDV because of the way it's compressed. Plus when oxide flakes off the tape, guess where it goes.

Don't screw up your camera to save a few bucks. Put used tapes on the shelf for archives.

Don't know about the lubricants within Sony lines, but that's not the issue so the point is moot. Eat the $40 and chalk it up to experience. You've said you're already having dropout problems so why be silly about this?

Thanks for all your help, I'll stick with the Sony Premiums.