I have a Sony DCR-HC20, which I have successfully used six Sony brand tapes in, I recently bought a sixpack of JVC tapes, and when I went to use the first tape there are gray bars that run across whatever I was filming, for about the first minute and 40 seconds, the strange thing is, is it did it on one tape, and then it didn't do it on the second tape that I used, and then the problem appeared on the second tape, but then disappeared the next time I played it????? Is this a tape problem or camera problem? I'm thinking maybe the JVC tapes have some sort of leader, like the cassette tapes of yesteryear......lol.....anyways, I thank you in advance for reading my post. Any help will be greatly appreciated!!
Could just be a bad tape, this can happen with any brand. Could also be loose tape thought. Not sure how many tapes you use regularly but a good practice, is to get a rewinder. Fast Forward to the end of blank tape then Rewind back. This is called tape packing and eliminates many problems like you are having and artifacting.
Personally I use Sony and Panasonic Pro Grade tapes.
Basically , don't mix different brands of tape as they can have different levels of lubrication. Sony are considered ' wet '. Mixing different types can lead to the camcorder heads getting gunked up
thank you very much for your help. I will start "tape packing" with the next tape that I use. And also I will stop mixing tapes. I did not know anything about the different levels of lubrication. I have two more JVC tapes, and I might keep them as spares, I will go back to the Sony brand I believe.
