Runied Tape

dory

I went around Asia over the summer and did a bit of filming on my Sony Handycam.

Now, a month later, Im at home trying to load it onto my computer.
But 3 of the nine tapes are ruined. The sound comes and goes every half a second or so and the picture is jumpy.

Anyone have nay idea what might have happened? They're Sony mini DV tapes. Could it have been the intense heat? Or the fact that Ive played them back a good bit on my Handycam> Should I have been using one of those machines to play them back and log them onto the computer?

Lump

Sounds like wear and tear alright. Mini DV arent the most stable format Re: Use and re-use. Playing back in the camera probably didn't help much as the servos/read head in a camera aren't the best quality when it comes to playing back. Did they come incontact with any kind of magnet, either a very strong one briefly or a weak one for a prolonged period of time.

Could any dirt etc have gotten in? You might find that they will play back ok in a semi-pro or professional deck, as these will have better error concelment.

John

dory

Thanks for your reply. I've been looking at these decks on ebay. They're all up in the thousands.
Any idea where I could get a reasonalble second hand one?

DonkeyStyle \o/

You might be able to find a company to transfer it for you... save you buying a deck at all, it could work out cheaper if you can't find a reasonably priced deck.

Lump

You wont get a cheap deck they are about £1200..... As Donkey Style Says, probably a better idea to get someone/company to transfer it for you. If you really wanted the footage, they'd probably have a engineer that could look a the tape and recover the stuff from it, that's if it didn't play in their deck.

John

dory

Thanks guys. I'll go looking for one of those companies now.