Chewing Tapes WAS: Re: DVD Player not playing

[Colin McDonald]

Let me clarify.  I have been on this list (apart from a few breaks - it 
is rather busy at times) for a couple of years now.
When I joined at first, there seemed to be a view from a number of 
participants that some of the less expensive Canons had a tendency to 
chew tapes.

However, I have not heard this recently until now, and the case 
referred to might have been some time ago.
Perhaps Canon have addressed this - after all they are universally 
recognised for the quality of their high end equipment.

My view, FWIW, is that I would love to have a Canon lens on a Sony 
camcorder :-)

Colin McDonald


On Sunday, Jan 18, 2004, at 03:27 Europe/London, Gordon B. Alley wrote:

> I wouldn't make my decision based upon one report of a camcorder 
> messing up a tape. It could have been a tape problem. I'm sure that 
> every model camcorder has destroyed a tape at one time or another.
>
> My Canon ZR 40 has never messed up a tape, if that makes you feel any 
> better.  :-)
>
> One feature to look for on whatever model you choose is often called 
> "pass-through mode" (it may go by various names). This mode lets you 
> connect the line outputs from a VHS VCR, for example, to the input of 
> the camcorder, connect a Firewire cable from the camcorder to the 
> computer, and have the camcorder operate as a real-time 
> analog-to-digital converter. This makes it easy to load a movie from 
> VHS onto the computer without having to first copy it to a miniDV tape 
> (though you might want a miniDV copy for archival purposes).
>
> AFAIK, most of the Canon models include this mode of operation (my ZR 
> 40 does).
>
> On Sat, 17 Jan 2004 16:27:07 -0500, Paul Williams <mulder at fred.net> 
> wrote:
>> Funny you should say that. I'm going now to look at the Sony TRV38!
>>
>>> On Saturday, Jan 17, 2004, at 18:15 Europe/London, Paul Williams 
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>>   "when it messed up a tape"? Oh Geez! THAT is the last thing i need
>>>> this thing to do with THESE tapes i have!
>>>>   Anyway, i've printed out your message and i'm continuing my 
>>>> reasearch!
>>>>
>>>>>   A number of us use inexpensive Canon ZRnn models. I started with
>>>>> a ZR10 and when it messed up a tape, I got a ZR40 which was
>>>>> around >> $400.
>>>
>>> Then go for a Sony.
>>>
>>  >Colin McDonald