It would be nice to know why you are thinking of recording anything on an analogue device. Once it is recorded, you’ll never be able to synch with anything. So you can’t use it to record audio while you shoot video. You could record wild sound for ambient backgrounds, or record sound effects you want to add in. But you will still have to digitize the audio in order to use it. I’ve always recommended that folks just use their camera to record voice-overs or audio effects.
But if your camera doesn’t have a mic input, recording analogue audio will only frustrate you. I had a fellow once who videotaped a speech with a dead microphone, so he thought he’d just use the audio tape they made. As I recall, he gave up after a little over 20 hours of editing a 45 minute speech. It is a little easier to edit using NLE’s, but only for short time spans. Digital audio, once synched up, will not lose synch until either the camcorder or audio recorder run out of tape. (As a comparison, analogue recordings will lose synch in 3-5 seconds and be annoyingly off within 10 seconds.) So don’t even consider using analogue tape to record audio you camcorder can’t record.
And as far as brands of audio tape go, select a name brand and go for a mid-to-upper priced tape stock. And remember, the physics of analogue recording will guarantee you start with inferior audio. But digital audio retains all the quality it was recorded with.
Good luck with your production.
