Topic: LP vs. SP (miniDV)

[SClassical]

Can anyone tell me if they can see or hear any differences between the 2 modes?

I've heard from some people that the picture quality is the same in both modes (which I also find). But the only difference is the sound?

During LP you can record 90mins. 30 mins longer than the SP mode. Has anyone done a comparison between LP vs SP mode?

[fanofthemule]

I have not found any difference in picture quality.  I'm not sure about the audio quality, I have not done a comparison and I rarely use the camera audio.  The only issue I have heard with the LP setting is there may be playback issues if you use a different camera to play the video back on.  If you use the same camera you recorded with, there should be no issues.

[Josh P]

I used to be of the mindset that LP was the way to go.  Less tape changes = Less of a chance to get caught, right?  That all changed once I noticed that a couple frames came up missing while capturing one of my LP tapes.  Which TOTALLY screws up syncing.

Stick to SP.  Just be sneaky when you change tapes.  Shows rarely go over 2 hours these days anyway so you're going to have to use 2 tapes either way you slice it.

And holy shit, fanofthemule, its been a long time, pm coming.

[firmdragon]

i use LP exclusively.

a) i don't get very many dropped frames.  i do 2 cams all the time. i've never had syncing problems.  or none that couldn't be fixed
b) there is no difference in quality.
c) shows go over 60min.
d) tapes are expensive.

[John Kary]

i use LP exclusively.

a) i don't get very many dropped frames.  i do 2 cams all the time. i've never had syncing problems.  or none that couldn't be fixed
b) there is no difference in quality.
c) shows go over 60min.
d) tapes are expensive.

If you're going to use LP, make sure you're using good quality tapes.  I've seen many shows by other people come back with corrupt video, scrolling distortion and popping audio thanks to LP on cheap tapes.  I would NEVER shoot LP on something mission critical.  Buy your tapes online in bulk to save a few dollars.  Use the same brand of tape as your camera.

[wilsonedits]

all problems i have had are from LP tapes....  also its pretty much a given they won't play right unless its the camera they were recorded on... which means years down the road you will have alot of masters that you can't use if your camera goes out...

and why would anyone want to deal with dropouts when you don't ask to.... basically LP is just asking for trouble

[beefstew]

i buy 8 tapes for $20 at sams club, so i mostly record in SP since tapes are so cheap

[willndmb]

i find the picture quality to be the same
however a lot of cams the audio is different bitrate 16 vs 12
can you hear the difference?? most dubb stuff anyway
but as wilson said, with lp you run a big risk of playback issues

as for playback you never want to reuse a tape unless you don't care about the 2nd time being perfect and convertable without risk of problems

so when i record stuff i use sp unless i know it will be hard to change tapes, i only have 1 tape,

[dee-j]

Errors are still possible in SP mode, but less likely. Compatibility might be an issue for playback on other machines, but the biggest risk of LP is mosaic artifacts (digital burps) in the footage. You can by tapes that record longer in SP mode. They are just a little more expensive.

[guitard]

Errors are still possible in SP mode, but less likely. Compatibility might be an issue for playback on other machines, but the biggest risk of LP is mosaic artifacts (digital burps) in the footage. You can by tapes that record longer in SP mode. They are just a little more expensive.

Actually, they are a lot more expensive.  You can get 60 minutes SP on a regular tape that costs $3, but the 80 minute extended tape (which logic would suggest should only cost $1 more) will cost you $5.50+.  And that's assuming you can even find them.  A lot of retailers don't carry them.

If I know a band is going to play a 60-90 minute set, I shoot in LP.  If it's going to be less than an hour, I go with SP.  If it's 90-120 minutes, I'll shoot in SP on two tapes.

I've found that Sony cams seem to be able to play back any tape - regardless of what cam it was filmed with and which mode it is (LP/SP).  But a lot of other cams have problems with tapes filmed with certain camera brands.

[BayTaynt3d]

If we're talking MiniDV here, than as long as the bits make it from the tape to the computer, you get the exact same file between LP and SP -- they record the exact same quality. The rub is that the margin for error when running at the slower LP is less, so if anything if off at all, you can get digital dropouts, which can suck bad. The other thing is that using a different deck than the originating camera to capture the LP tapes can result in problems during capture. It is mainly for these reasons that SP is much more preferred -- less chance for dropouts, higher likelihood tapes will last longer for archival, and higher likelihood that they'll work with any deck you put them in. If you really, REALLY need the extra 1/2 hour without a flip, or you have no extra tapes, then maybe, but otherwise I'd personally stay in SP mode whenever I could. That said, LP mode captured from the same camera without dropouts procudes the EXACT SAME quality as does SP mode -- so that's something to keep in mind.

[firmdragon]

i've had problems with audio playback with my sony cams playing canon filmed tapes in LP.

[SClassical]

Actually, I realize that playing back a LP miniDV on a camcorder the timer running does not run smoothy. So don't know if the irregular timer during playback of a LP mode means the clip is not running smoothy.

[saltman]

i've had problems with audio playback with my sony cams playing canon filmed tapes in LP.

I've had problems with sony playback of canon filmed tapes in SP also.  And the same problems with the canon playing the sony's tapes.  I have also had playback issues with two different sonys.  I think that's a given.  Playback is best with the cam that recorded it. 
It has been my experience that LP will often give you dropped frames and dirty head like symptom.  esp. at the very beginning of the tape.  I would say it will happen 85 percent of the time.  I will also say I don't think it's that big a deal... you can often hide a few dropped frames by copying the frames ahead and behind without anyone noticing.  I film in SP only.

[willndmb]

the blocky dirty head type of drop frame is the most common for me when playing back someone elses tape