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HDX900 and 1200 deck issues
We just bought an HDX900 as a second camera to use with a Varicam and 1200 deck. Able Cinetech told me that I would have to get the 1200’s heads adjusted to accomdate the 9 micron difference between the recording surface of the HDX900 and the Varicam tape (which is 18 microns, if I understand this correctly). I was concerned that this would mean that we could not use the 1200 deck to go back and forth between tapes from the two cameras but, after a call to Alex Feldman, with Panasonic in New Jersey, they assured me there would be no problem. According to Able, this difference has no effect on capabilities of the 900, but given you have to adjust the deck to compensate for it, it seems like something I should know about and something I have heard nothing about. Panasonic is supposed to have sent e-mails out about this, but I never got one. The 1400 deck evidently doesn’t need the adjustment. Has anybody else heard about this and the difference between the two cameras in this regard?
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10 Replies
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Rob,
Not to worry; your 1200A VTR will play both 9 and 18 micron tapes – otherwise it would not be able to play back tapes it recorded itself! There is no “adjustment” necessary. If there is it would have to do with the size of the tape itself, but I’m not sure about that because I only have the Varicams, but I know that the 900 takes a different sized tape. You tell us if it fits in the deck.
JS
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It isn’t the size of the tape, if I understand this correctly. The tape is the the same in different sized cases. It is the area on the tape where the data is recorded. Able Cinetech was quite clear about the need to adjust the heads, and what the symptoms were if this were not done and tape from the 900 were played on it (lack of stability, breakup, inability to lock on, as I recall). Anyone else have the combination of a 900 and the 1200 deck? It may be that I missunderstood the problem, but they were quite clear about the deck needing adjustments to handle tape from a 900 camera.
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Rob,
I repeat, the 1200A/1400 is fully capable of playing both 9 micron (as is recorded both by the deck itself and the HDX900 camera) and 18 micron tapes (as is recorded in the Varicam and 130/150 VTR’s) without any adjustment!
JS
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Well, Able told me that the 1200 would have to be adjusted. I didn’t make it up. I don’t have an imagination that developed. If anybody else hears about this, please post.
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Rob,
The sales people at places like Abel, Band Pro, B & S, etc are often very nice and appear knowledgable, but the fact is that factory product managers, working professionals and actual equipment owners are the ones who really know how things work. In this case, because you refuse to believe me, please call a real expert at Panasonic. His name is Steve Mahrer, and he’s in the NJ office and usually quite accessible on his office or cell phone. I stand to be corrected, but it’s highly unlikely that Panasonic would create a product the requires “adjustment” to use one type of 9 micron recording vs. another. They have done some stupid things in my oppinion as regards the HDX900 (like a $4200 controller for a less expensive camera) but I don’t think they’d do what you’re suggesting!
JS
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Well, now, I’d like to think I am both a working professional and an equipment owner (though I am a producer and not a technical guy) and I am only reporting what Able reported to me, including confirmation from Panasonic in New Jersey (according to them). I thought the information would be useful, and serve the purpose of the forum and I’d still be interested if anybody else comes across this issue. And if it turns out that I am full of crap about this, well, it wouldn’t be the first time…
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Rob,
If you own the gear why not put a tape shot in the HDX900 into your 1200A and see if it plays? Then you’ll be the expert!
JS
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Well, John, I am waiting for delivery on the 900, which just arrived in New York (which is why I was talking to Able). But while I was waiting, I called Panasonic as you suggested and guess what? You are entirely right and I was full of crap. Panasonic suggested that the sales person at Able was missinformed.
So, nevermind and thanks for the correct information….
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This sounds like there might have been some miscommunication going on (speaking for Abel, here).
The 1200a decks do indeed play 9 micron tapes. What we have seen, however, is that some 1200a decks have alignment issues playing back HDX900 tapes (shows up as concealment errors). We’ve seen this on about half a dozen decks, including 2 from our rental inventory. There are a lot of 1200a decks out there that are getting on in years, and have never been used to play back 9 micron footage before (except for what was recorded in the same deck), so I think what we are seeing really is a lot of decks that are overdue for maintenance, not a general incompatibility. Since we’ve seen it so many times, someone probably mentioned that we would like to double-check your deck.
When properly aligned the deck will work fine for both 18 and 9 micron tapes.
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Jesse Rosen
Director of Technical Development
Abel Cine Tech, Inc. -
We had this problem with a very used deck bought from Abel … sent it back for ajustment, with no improvement. They said they did not have the tools to align the new tapes yet … I thought that is quite odd.
We will return this deck, but in any case I am now worried that the HDX is NOT totally compatable with the 1200 decks, and that HDX owners are setting themselves up to look bad after having said that our tapes are compatable with vericam decks.
This is a problem!
Abel shoud get their story streight!
Panasonic should step up and get information out!
Panasonic should also blast out information giving assistance for bringing decks up to spec. It should be clear that the decks with problems with the HDX tapes are at fault and not the cameras, and that the HDX owners have not lied to their clients about compatability.
This is a problem. Don’t be like Sony and try to sweep it under the rug.
Mark Knobil
Pittsburgh? Pittsburgh!
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