At the birth of my first child 9 years ago, my 8mm camcorder malfunctioned. The video that I attempted to record is there on the tape, but it plays back very poorly. The picture is full of lines and disappears at times, and the audio is almost completely garbled. The repair shop that fixed the camcorder afterward said that there was a problem with the tape transport system.

I am now attempting to have the video on the cassette fixed, if that is possible. I saw from another post that there are video restoration companies. I have contacted Vidipax, and I may send the cassette to them. They told me they charged $195 per hour, and, wow, that's a bit much. I'm looking for alternatives.

I am assuming that this was a tracking issue that caused the tape to record incorrectly. My question is can the tracking be altered (I still have my old 8mm camcorder) on my camcorder to try and "match" it to the way things were on that day? If so, can an idiot like me fiddle around with it? I don't use that camcorder any longer, so I don't have much to lose if I screw it up.

Thanks for any help.