8mm recordings visible only when FF

[ophi]

I have some old 120 min 8mm cassettes that when I play them I don't see anything. When I use the Fast Forward button (while the cassette is still being played) I start to see the video even though it is scrumbled.
Any idea what the problem is?

[hech54]

More info needed

[ophi]

I will be happy to provide more details, but which details?
I can tell that this is the second Sony camcorder where I see the same behavior.

[hech54]

Where are you?
Where are the tapes from?
Did you record these tapes yourself?

[guns1inger]

How are you trying to capture them ?
What are you viewing them on ?

[ophi]

I am not capturing, I am just watching the video in the viewfinder of the camera. I am trying to check what's on the cassettes.

[guns1inger]

Were the originals recorded in LP mode ? LP can cause playback issues if the original camera isn't used. Otherwise it might be an alignment/tracking issue.

[ophi]

I thought also about the LP/SP option, but the camera I am using now has this feature, as it displays SP or LP in the viewfinder.
What is alignment/tracking?

[guns1inger]

Even on a camera with LP, tapes recorded in LP on a different camera may no play correctly.

Tracking/alignment of the heads that recorded the tapes may be sufficiently different to the alignment of the heads on your playback camera that the tapes cannot read correctly during normal speed playback. If you know what you are doing you may be able to manually adjust the heads to get it to play back correctly

[filmboss80]

Sounds like one of the heads on the video drum is clogged, keeping a picture from locking up at normal playback speed. Clean your tape heads. If that doesn't remedy the problem, we can go on from there.

[ophi]

This happened to me on two different cameras so it's not reasonable the same problem is present in both cameras. I suspect it is something to do with the original recording / original camera or might be a PAL / NTSC issue.

[lordsmurf]

Some of you are trying to apply VHS theory to 8mm. You can't do that.
8mm doesn't have "tracking"

I'd almost have to see the tapes to analyze them. 8mm issues can be ugly.

[em-t-wallitt]

I think I've experienced this problem before. I had dubbed a video from a VHS cassette into a Sony CCD-TR6 mono 8mm camcorder. I could see the video in the camcorder's viewfinder during the dubbing process. After a few years had passed, I tried playing back the same tape and saw nothing in the viewfinder either. Just like ophi, I had to press fast forward in order to view the video. Maybe it's MV that's causing the problem?