MiniDV Tapes not playing - blank blue screen?
 

I have a digital Panasonic Mini DV Camcorder (Standard Definition) (NTSC). When I tried to play some of the recorded MiniDV tapes (which were recorded on the same camcorder), some of the tapes play well, but some do not play at all. I see a blank blue screen on Camcorder LCD, and I can also see it is not picking up the timecode data from the tape. The capturing program WinDV doesn't see any signal incoming. I am trying to capture the tapes using Firewire and store on HDD before the tapes deteriorate.

What could be the problem?

Were they recorded using long play?

No. Each tape has a maximum of 1 hour. Some of them are SONY cassettes and some are Panasonic. The camcorder is Panasonic.

Other than that I'm not sure what to tell you other that try a different camcorder.

Is it just one brand you're having an issue with or both?

Both Sony and Panasonic tapes are having this issue. I gave them to a transfer guy who reported that he was also unable to play them. The trouble is, it is NTSC camcorder which I bought while I was in the USA, but I am in PAL land primarily. So cannot really find another NTSC camcorder to test out.

May be I will assume the tapes have gone bad or something.