Video8 camcorder won't display tapes?

[Dead Christmas]

Howdy,

I'm trying to move two 8mm tapes I found in the attic. One of them transferred perfectly after I figured out how to work the camera. The Sony tape, the problematic one, will load, and play, but there's no video and the tape counter doesn't move even though the tape is actually moving.

I am working with a Sony video8, analog-only, CCD-TR96.

Am I possibly working with an 8mm tape that has Hi-8 signal recorded onto it? I don't want to shell out for a digital8 camcorder if I'm just doing something wrong, or the tape is possibly blank. Is there a way to tell if a video8 tape is blank, on that note?

I made a video demonstrating the problem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGfCktrZOOI

[latreche34]

What a mess of wires!

Anyway, A Video8 camcorder cannot give you a defenitive answer, it only gives you a partial answer. A Hi8 content tape can be played back on a Video8 camcorder with weird looking noisy video so that rules out the tape being recorded in Hi8, But blank tapes and D8 content tapes will display static in the video output (View finder may hide the static and replace it with black screen). So a D8 camcorder is a must, if you have only one tape just send it out to a transfer facility.

[Dead Christmas]

Yeah the wires are pretty annoying. My computer is in the back of my closet behind the wall. I gotta run wires to and from it.

I ordered a Digital8 DCR-TRV340. Hopefully it'll be able to read that tape.

The TDK one that worked was a recording of the biological disaster that was myself being born. They had me hooked up to so many wires, I looked like an unfinished cyborg.

Needless to say, I'm excited to see if there's anything on that tape.

[dpalomaki]

Do you have any information about the tape beyond the brand?

Digital8 came out in about 1999 so if the tape predates 1999 it will not be Digital8.
A Hi8 camcorder would normally not record in Hi8 mode on Video8 tapes.

This is not likely the issue, but in the video it looks like the problem tape is not fully rewound. Any chance there is only a bit of video on it at the start of the tape (or end of the tape)?

[Dead Christmas]

Ah, dpalomaki, great to see you here.

I am not sure when the tape was made. I assume it's another video of myself as a baby. I was born in '96.

It's a Sony MP30, NTSC 8.

[Dead Christmas]

Unfortunately, even with the Digital8 camcorder that I have now, it does not appear to have any video recorded onto it.

Although, these Digital8 players seem to have a lot of options for playback. Is there some kind of feature that one of these players would need turned off or on to enable playback compatibility? It's only got S-video for an output connection, and I assume is analog. I just get a blue screen with the display text.

[dpalomaki]

Which Make and Model D8?

I would expect any D8 camcorder worth its salt to have a Firewire/IEEE1394/iLink in/output jack for a DV stream, as well as composite and s-video (and RCA audio) for an analog stream.

Probably too late to tell, but often a fresh (unused) tape will have a uniform smooth tape wrap on the supply spool. A tape that has been played/recorder/wound and rewound may have a somewhat uneven tape wrap in the supply reel.with changes at the points where play was stopped to rewind.

FWIW: Some camcorders came with a 30 minute blank tape in the package.

[Dead Christmas]

This model I have is a Sony DCR-TRV340. It's got analog, USB, and a "DV in/out"

[Dead Christmas]

There is indeed a crease in the tape, but I have played back the entire tape already in an attempt to locate any recordings. Does mere playback cause such a crease to form?

[dpalomaki]

I would not expect a working machine to "crease" a tape. However, play and rewind might cause some sort of "layering" of the tape wrap on the reel with slight level changes at the stop points.

Also, if there is no sign what so ever of any recording when played in a working Hi8 camcorder there is likely no video is on the tape - the tape may well be bank. I say this only because most home users would go with the 120 minute tapes and may never have use a 30 minute tape that came with a camcorder, especially if the camcorder was purchased a replacement for an older model.

Note that Video8/Hi8 form factor tapes were also used for computer data backup (more formally called Data8) and for digital audio recording (e.g., TASCAM DA-88) which a camcorder would not recognize, although this use was not common in the home environment.

[Dead Christmas]

Thanks. I'm going to hang on to it, but I think you're right.