VideoHelp Forum
+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 9 of 9
Thread
  1. Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2017
    Location
    United States
    Search PM
    Hi,

    I just bought a nice DCR-TRV520 to use in digitizing some old Hi8 tapes. I'm not *too* naive, and the research I did online indicated that this model was fine to play back analog tape. Though I've dug through the menu and adjusted every playback setting (PB Mode and A/V-->DV OUT), I can't get anything but a blue screen on any tape I've tried.

    Anyone know of a magic trick? Otherwise, I think I'm going to try to return the camera.

    Thanks!
    Quote Quote  
  2. Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    San Francisco, California
    Search PM
    Do you know for a fact that the tapes aren't erased?

    Wind the tape end-to-end in fast mode. This retensions the pack and encourages debris to fall out. Then clean the video heads.
    Quote Quote  
  3. Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2017
    Location
    United States
    Search PM
    Thanks for the reply! I don't know for a *fact,* but it would be really strange, wouldn't it? How easy is it to bulk-erase 20 or so Hi8 tapes that have been packed away snugly (in cases) for 15 years?

    Either way, I don't think it's a dirt/clean issue...it's playing, but the monitor is just showing solid blue. No counter, either. I've seen elsewhere that this specific model is supposed to play analog fine; is that not the case perhaps?
    Quote Quote  
  4. Member solarfox's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2002
    Location
    United States
    Search Comp PM
    Any Digital8 camcorder should be capable of playing 8mm and Hi-8 tapes -- I've never heard of a model that can't, and the DCR-TRV520 isn't exactly a "low-end" model that they might've cut corners on.

    It could be a tracking issue, depending on the condition of the camcorder that originally recorded them. I don't suppose you still have the original Hi-8 camera, do you?

    Also, do you know if these were recorded in SP mode, or LP? I seem to recall that Digital8 cameras could be touchy about LP-mode analog tapes sometimes, since the tracking was more finicky due to the recorded stripes being packed closer together at the slower tape speed.
    Quote Quote  
  5. Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2017
    Location
    United States
    Search PM
    Interesting--thanks for the reply, Solarfox. I do still have the original camera (which has a busted eject mechanism); it's a TRV-66. I don't recall which SP/LP setting it would've been on.
    Quote Quote  
  6. Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    San Francisco, California
    Search PM
    Originally Posted by solarfox View Post
    Any Digital8 camcorder should be capable of playing 8mm and Hi-8 tapes…
    That's not true if you're speaking about recorded format. Sony had a line of low-cost cams that only play Digital8 recordings — the TRV280, for example.
    Quote Quote  
  7. Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    San Francisco, California
    Search PM
    Originally Posted by Harvey View Post
    it's playing, but the monitor is just showing solid blue. No counter, either.
    Typical "no-signal" output, meaning it's not reading anything off the tape. This is precisely what you would get with clogged video heads. What does the built-in screen show?
    Quote Quote  
  8. Member solarfox's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2002
    Location
    United States
    Search Comp PM
    Originally Posted by JVRaines View Post
    Originally Posted by solarfox View Post
    Any Digital8 camcorder should be capable of playing 8mm and Hi-8 tapes…
    That's not true if you're speaking about recorded format. Sony had a line of low-cost cams that only play Digital8 recordings — the TRV280, for example.
    Really? Huh... I guess I never saw one of those, then. I wonder who Sony thought the target market would be for those? I'd always been under the impression that the whole point of the Digital-8 format was to bridge the divide between analog and digital, so that people who had 8mm and Hi-8 camcorders and recordings could move into the DV realm without having to start over with a whole new physically-incompatible format that couldn't play their existing recordings. Seems like if you didn't need 8mm/Hi-8 compatibility, why not just go to mini-DV instead?
    Quote Quote  
  9. Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    San Francisco, California
    Search PM
    I can think of a couple of reasons. First, Sony offered plenty of models with backwards compatibility to capture the analog 8 mm market. Second, the 8 mm video brand was much better known than MiniDV.
    Quote Quote  



Similar Threads

Visit our sponsor! Try DVDFab and backup Blu-rays!