Digital8 Errors - is it the camera, or the tape?

[seanmcnally]

Simple question, I'm not sure if there's a simple answer. I'm getting around a 6% error rate transferring a 1 hour Digital8 tape according to DV Analyzer, and I'm wondering what I can do to fix it. Transferring over firewire via a Sony TRV330. I already tried using an 8mm cleaning cartridge, that didn't seem to help.

The tapes are around 20 years old, so I'm wondering if they're simply starting to degrade, or if perhaps using another camera will fix this. Any help or advice greatly appreciated! Thanks

[dellsam34]

Another camcorder may not fix the problem but it sure is the only way to find out if the tapes are at fault or the current camcorder.