Just returned a day ago from a two-week tour with a choir in France, where I shot HDV in surround-sound. Went through about 25 tapes an an equal number of Minidiscs (for rear-channel audio). The FX1 performed flawlessly, and although I was concerned about the weight at first, my right arm eventually adjusted to carrying it around.
One thing that surprised me--I had packed all my recorded tapes and Minidiscs in a gallon-sized Ziploc plastic bag, and when unpacking my suitcase I discovered that one of the tapes had been crushed by something. The TDK miniDV tapes are housed in individual rugged semirigid plastic shells that I would assume would survive being driven over with a car, but yet this one shell had been completely cracked as though a great weight had been placed on the middle while the shell was supported at each end. The cassette inside also was cracked nearly in half, though fortunately I had not rewound the tape after removing it from the camera and virtually all of the recorded tape was on the takeup hub. The clear plastic window was shattered, and the supply hub was cracked though still apparently functional. After looking over my options (transfer reels to a new housing?) I decided to restore some functionality with adhesive tape to the housing and carefully rewound the tape back to the supply hub at "fast-reverse" speed. I then was able to pull the video into my PC via Firewire, and miraculously all went well.
Moral to the story: pack your tapes/Minidiscs in a box, not haphazardly in a bag. I still don't know what crushed the tape box; it could have been a TCA inspection where perhaps the suitcase was re-closed on the tape box, or maybe the suitcase was subjected to a strong crushing force from the side. I just don't know.
It was hot and humid in France, but the food and wine were good. The choir sang in Notre Dame and a half-dozen other venues. The Eiffel Tower was really cool, especially considering that it was built in the late 1800's. One night we had Foie Gras (goose liver) as one of the courses at dinner, and since many of the young singers were grossed out at the thought of eating liver, we adults were able to take advantage of the abundance. Just wonderful on French bread with a cold beer at hand. It was the night the French won the semifinal match in soccer, and everyone in the restaurant and small town was deleriously happy.
One thing that surprised me--I had packed all my recorded tapes and Minidiscs in a gallon-sized Ziploc plastic bag, and when unpacking my suitcase I discovered that one of the tapes had been crushed by something. The TDK miniDV tapes are housed in individual rugged semirigid plastic shells that I would assume would survive being driven over with a car, but yet this one shell had been completely cracked as though a great weight had been placed on the middle while the shell was supported at each end. The cassette inside also was cracked nearly in half, though fortunately I had not rewound the tape after removing it from the camera and virtually all of the recorded tape was on the takeup hub. The clear plastic window was shattered, and the supply hub was cracked though still apparently functional. After looking over my options (transfer reels to a new housing?) I decided to restore some functionality with adhesive tape to the housing and carefully rewound the tape back to the supply hub at "fast-reverse" speed. I then was able to pull the video into my PC via Firewire, and miraculously all went well.
Moral to the story: pack your tapes/Minidiscs in a box, not haphazardly in a bag. I still don't know what crushed the tape box; it could have been a TCA inspection where perhaps the suitcase was re-closed on the tape box, or maybe the suitcase was subjected to a strong crushing force from the side. I just don't know.
It was hot and humid in France, but the food and wine were good. The choir sang in Notre Dame and a half-dozen other venues. The Eiffel Tower was really cool, especially considering that it was built in the late 1800's. One night we had Foie Gras (goose liver) as one of the courses at dinner, and since many of the young singers were grossed out at the thought of eating liver, we adults were able to take advantage of the abundance. Just wonderful on French bread with a cold beer at hand. It was the night the French won the semifinal match in soccer, and everyone in the restaurant and small town was deleriously happy.