UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum (https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/index.php)
-   Vintage Television and Video (https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=37)
-   -   What VHS tapes do you like to use? (https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/showthread.php?t=116617)

IanNVJ35 18th May 2015 12:45 pm

What VHS tapes do you like to use?
 
I enjoy trying new tapes in my VCR's and seeing how well I can get the picture to look (recording from FreeView HD). The trouble is many less than premium tapes have losses that show up on screen as grain or lack of detail but good ones can look really excellent with the clean source material.

I tried a premium Scotch 90 Minute tape this weekend and that was really clean https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLAEoSLBew0 is a test recording on my HS960 in plain VHS mode.

I have also got on really well with the older JVC 'Pro' tapes in the green library cases which hardly have any drop outs and look smooth on screen.

So what tapes did you like (or still like today)?

Focus Diode 18th May 2015 1:03 pm

Re: What VHS tapes do you like to use?
 
The older JVC and the Akai clones, Maxell and the Hitachi clones, Fuji and TDK. These from the 1980s.
Brian

gec2110 18th May 2015 2:17 pm

Re: What VHS tapes do you like to use?
 
Panasonic VHS tapes very good quality

John123 18th May 2015 5:48 pm

Re: What VHS tapes do you like to use?
 
I've always used JVC S-VHS E-180s even in normal VHS machines. I used to have a few standard BASF EMTEC E-300s that always gave excellent results as well (although not recommended for older machines).

dj_fivos_sak 19th May 2015 1:12 pm

Re: What VHS tapes do you like to use?
 
I love Maxell and TDK..Same for Betamax!

G6Tanuki 19th May 2015 1:54 pm

Re: What VHS tapes do you like to use?
 
Back in the day when I had anything to do with VHS tapes, I used Scotch/3M, only because I was at the time also buying lots of other stuff from 3M and their rep used to hand out 3-packs of VHS tapes as a freebie to everyone in the lab. Use once [we were using a bank of Dutch-sourced Thorn/Rank/Rotel VHS recorders to log data from CCTV cameras on test rigs], keep for a week, then we took the tapes home for personal use.

For those rare occasions when wanting to keep a recording for more than a week I bought TDK.

ben 19th May 2015 2:25 pm

Re: What VHS tapes do you like to use?
 
4 Attachment(s)
These Basf (attached). I was lucky enough to find dozens dumped not long back - used once, some even had the shrink wrap still. Someone's home taped film collection. I have more than I'll ever need - Anyone passing by Madrid and want a handful, just let me know! ;D

Also:
TDK, HG /EHG, ideally up to the late 90s.
Maxell.
Kodak - early ones were rebadged TDKs. Later ones were Goldstar/SKC? not quite as good. See pic.
Polaroid - rebadged JVCs. See pic.

Sony: mixed results.
Scotch :Had a few that have aged badly.
Memorex: utterly dreadful on the whole.

8 Tracker 19th May 2015 5:58 pm

Re: What VHS tapes do you like to use?
 
Agree with you Ben re Memorex, awful in my experience. I always use TDK when I can get them, although I got a batch of fairly late Sonys a while back at the NVCF and these seem pretty good.

Found a few TDK and JVC S-VHS tapes at this years' NVCF, but have yet to try them. I have only recently acquired some S-VHS machines.

Are the rumours about Scotch tapes and increased head wear true?

Mark.

ben 19th May 2015 10:21 pm

Re: What VHS tapes do you like to use?
 
No idea about the scotch rumours.
Ages ago in my local Poundland they were selling D-VHS (remember that?) blanks so I bought a few. Have yet to try them!

For S-VHS, Fuji were always the brand of choice but the BASF ones were better IMO.

Nicklyons2 20th May 2015 8:42 am

Re: What VHS tapes do you like to use?
 
I haven't bought any new ones in years but I have some ancient tapes which are now over 30 years old and get occasional re-use. TDK Super Avilyn, Fuji Beridox, Maxell XRS & Panasonic have survived V.V. well, early Kodak and Philips almost as good; Konica, Memorex and Scotch - avoid.

mark pirate 20th May 2015 9:03 am

Re: What VHS tapes do you like to use?
 
Ever since buying a second hand Ferguson 3V22 back in 1980, I have only bought brand name tapes. I still have the first tape I bought, an Akai E180.
It cost an eye watering £5.99 back then:o
It still plays fine today, as do most of the tapes I bought in the 80's.

I started buying premium tapes in the late 80's for my new Panasonic HI-FI machine, the BASF and TDK tapes gave excellent results.
I was never keen on Memorex, and the Scotch tapes were of variable quality.
Maxell were a good all round daily use tape.

I still occasionally use my newest machine, a Panasonic VHS/DVD recorder with built in freeview. I have a large stash of new Maxell E180's bought for £1.99 for five!
:beer:
Mark

HamishBoxer 20th May 2015 10:06 am

Re: What VHS tapes do you like to use?
 
£5.99 for a 3 hour tape? I remember them at £10 for 3 hours.

JVC seem to be one I find prone to mould.BBC tapes are ok.

ben 20th May 2015 10:24 am

Re: What VHS tapes do you like to use?
 
1 Attachment(s)
Here's a tip for those who pick up used cassettes. Often you find that the first ten minutes/half an hour has the most drop-outs, as people would record short programmes always at the start of the tape, and repeat the process. So the start wore faster than the rest, which often showed no signs of wear at all.

Another problem is edge damage causing drop outs in the audio, or unstable frame lock. This is usually caused by being played on a deck with a worn pinch roller or faulty spool clutch. This is more apparent at tape start when takeup torque is highest.

Before re-using those tapes, fast wind in to the tape until the picture is clear and a visual inspection shows no lines or wear on the tape surface. Eject tape. Pop the tape flap up and block it open (I use a pencil eraser), unblock the spools by inserting a pen top or similar in the hole, and unwind all the (defective) tape off the take up spool.

You can then reattach the leader to the fresher tape off the supply spool. Ideally you need one inch splicing tape for this. If you're careful you can reuse the splicing tape used originally by peeling off the tape end. I have done this many times. It's probably only worth going to this trouble with scarcer, quality tapes from the 80s/early 90s - more recent tapes can be found easily still.

Nickthedentist 20th May 2015 12:09 pm

Re: What VHS tapes do you like to use?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by HamishBoxer (Post 763135)
£5.99 for a 3 hour tape? I remember them at £10 for 3 hours.

When my parents bought their first (and only!) video, a Hitachi VT-11E, in 1983, an E-180 was indeed the best part of a tenner, even for own-brand ones. Buying a new tape was a rare event, often only contemplated when there was something really good on which we wanted to keep permanently and involving a special trip to the shops. I still remember their smell!

But everything about them suggested "quality". They were heavy, the sleeve was often plastic or at least very thick cardboard which lasted forever, the finish on the plastic cassette was superb, and you got a generous quantity of labels for the top and spine of the cassette, as well as for the box, and even a selection of letters and numbers so you could organise your collection. In contrast, the £1-£2 offerings from the early 2000s seemed very flimsy.

Quality varied. The Woolworths own-brand ones (Alpha?) seemed fine if a bit prone to dropouts after a lot of use, the Dixons ones (Saisho?) always resulted in terrible (linear) sound, with not much treble but plenty of hiss. I remember one BASF one giving especially poor results.

Nickthedentist 20th May 2015 12:13 pm

Re: What VHS tapes do you like to use?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by ben (Post 763139)
Here's a tip for those who pick up used cassettes.

Very useful tip, Ben.

Of course, the new splice never goes anywhere near the video heads, so there should be minimal risk of damaging your machine.

Not something I've ever actually done: we just used to write a note on the label saying to start recordings from a certain point as measured on the 4-digit non-linear counter. The "memory" function meant that the tape automatically re-wound to the same point each time it was re-used.

Nick.

ben 20th May 2015 2:06 pm

Re: What VHS tapes do you like to use?
 
2 Attachment(s)
On the subject of cheap tapes.

About 1990, Richer sounds started selling three hour cassetets at a pound each - these were called 'Adachi' and later they stocked 'Cosmag' and yet another called 'Nova', which ripped off the JVC sleeve!

All three were pretty dire, in build and picture quality, the cosmags being the absolute worst for dropouts and washed out picture. By then, I had accumulated some ancient top loaders to usein my room, so these tapes were fine for a teenager to record Red Dwarf on!

I still have a few, will try and take some photos.

Later, around 1996, there appeared some called 'Kincho' which were surprisingly good, certainly streets ahead of the dross mentioned above. They looked like ex duplication stock to me.

Edit: found some. Two generations of 'nova' but not the original one I mentioned above.
A Cosmag complete with cassette. A Kincho, but had a maxell cassette inside. Also Hytaisun PG, another one pound special, pretty terrible quality cassette!

emeritus 20th May 2015 4:59 pm

Re: What VHS tapes do you like to use?
 
In the early days when video cassettes were expensive, I had one that got crumpled at the start. I didn't have any splicing tape, so I fixed it by carefully undoing the cassette and rewinding the tape the other way round (by hand), so that what had been the end, became the start. For timeshifting, the end of the tape was rarely reached. From memory, the colours of the originally-recorded tape were inverted. as well as the image being upside-down and backwards. No sound of course: the VCR was an excellent Mitsubishi single-speed machine with only a linear mono sound track.

I used TDK HS and Maxell Black tapes for my camcorder, and this week have just started transferring them to DVD using a Pansonic VCR/DVD recorder. My footage of the 1999 eclipse recorded on a Maxell Black was rock-steady with no sign of deterioration. Last last played in 2000.

mark pirate 20th May 2015 5:13 pm

Re: What VHS tapes do you like to use?
 
I think videotape has proved to have been a reliable storage medium, I have tapes recorded 35 years ago that still play fine. The same cannot be said of recordable DVD's, I have many that have deteriorated in less than 10 years.

Whatever you do, keep the original tapes safe after they have been copied!
:beer:
Mark

8 Tracker 20th May 2015 8:07 pm

Re: What VHS tapes do you like to use?
 
1 Attachment(s)
This thread is certainly bringing back memories. Our first video was a Panasonic NV333, which came with one E180 from the shop. We only had the one until I recorded The Bugs Bunny / Road Runner Movie on it and refused to let anyone record over it! I remember my Dad coming home with one more tape and that brought the grand total to two.

Remember the smell of the BASF chrome tapes? I still have some Beta ones of them and they still smell just the same. Quality is pretty awful now though, which is surprising.

Ben, I have one of those Cosmag tapes tucked away somewhere. I think I got it as a Christmas pressy, as I always saved up and bought quality tapes.

Anyone ever seen a Tandy cassette, as in the photo. I got this free with a pack of ten 5 1/4 floppies. The strange thing is, it actually lasts for four hours, not two! I never bought E240s, as I always thought the tape was too thin, as with C120 audio cassettes.

Mark.

dj_fivos_sak 7th Aug 2015 4:56 am

Re: What VHS tapes do you like to use?
 
3 Attachment(s)
I prefer TDK and Maxell VHS and Beta tapes!


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 11:31 am.

Powered by vBulletin®
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Copyright ©2002 - 2023, Paul Stenning.