Darrin,
No, I haven't heard anything about the Maxell tape. Some gurus told me about
the Sony tape a few months ago. It has dropouts, but is much better than the
TDK and consumer Sony Hi8 tapes I was initially using.
I'd really like to get ahold of the Maxell tape if it is as good as
that guy said it is.
Bailey
A guy here in Phoenix who supposedly knows alot about these things
uses the following: Sony MP30, 3M P6-30HMPX, and Maxell XR-M15. He
doesn't actually do single frame recording though, so I question
whether this is really the appropriate thing or not. These might
actually be consumer quality rather than industrial strength.