HELP, I have borrowed an older camcorder from a friend. A sony Hi8 CCD-TR101 handycam. My child put the tape in backwards and now it wont eject. What should I do??

The Sony DCR-TRV130 is a D8 digital camcorder which is not compatible with Hi8 camcorders.
You need to have an Hi8 camcorder or DCR-TRV103 or similar camcorders that backward compatible with Hi8 camcorders.

Take off the battery on the camcorder. Insert the battery and at the SAME time, push the power and the eject to see if this resets the camcorder so it will eject. If this does not work, I'm afraid the unit will need to be taken apart and removed manual. Good Luck

The only way to do that is to play it in a device that plays Hi8 tapes and somehow converts it to a digital signal (likely through firewire as DV), then capture it to your computer just like a digital camcorder.

There are several ways:
1. Buy a device (like a camera) that plays it, output through RCA cables to your other camera or tape deck that is digital through the line in, and then just record that. (Alternatively, you could put that signal into a DVD-R machine and record onto a DVD, then just copy the files off the DVD, if you don't have a way to capture DV through firewire.)
2. Buy a device that plays Digital8 (same tapes, but miniDV FORMAT) and output directly from the tape through firewire. This means you must buy a SONY (only brand that made [now discontinued] Digital8) camcorder or deck [if decks were made, though those are usually expensive].

So, the simple answer: get a Digital8 camera and capture, or get another digital camcorder and a Hi8 camcorder and play through the digital one into the computer.

Buying a Sony Handycam (OLDER model) will be your easiest option, and probably possible on ebay, etc., for $100-$200.


Short of this, you could look to a friend or a professional solution for just getting the tape copied (like VHS->DVD services exist, there is probably some place you can mail your tape to).

EDIT: I should add: You included "8mm" in your title-- that is a bit confusing. 8mm refers to a few formats. One is film (obviously not what you're referring to), but then there is the older "8mm" tape format; it's like Hi8, but I believe it's actually not the same tape-- unlike Digital8 and Hi8which share a physical medium. I don't think you can get an 8mm -> Digital device, so you'd need to go through the RCA cables, as described above. [And though Hi8 is actually 8mm in width, it's not quite the same as the other "8mm" format... for whatever odd reason someone decided.... ]
However, I suspect you ARE actually working with Hi8, so this shouldn't be a problem.

Try to clean video head with cleaning cassette, if same position than video head need to be change

u must to open ur camera and eject motor u put 3 dc volt then it eill eject and clean all connect then fixit and try

you may have saved in a different format such as pal.
see if you can select other formats.
of if possible borrow a camera and see if the same thing happens

DCR TRV140E is a Digital8 camera
CCD TRV87E is a Hi8 camera,
(Hi8 is an analog format)
the tapes are the same size, wont help, the recording systems are not compatible
send them to a lab service ?maybe if there are only a few
or ebay a Hi8 camera and transcode them yourself

its not a solution, at least it clarifies the problem

Take the battery out and turn selection switch to camera and then turn it off. Put the battery back in and its working again.
if that doesn't work try
Try smacking the side of the camera relatively hard with the palm of your hand. Eject the tape and reinsert. You may need to do this a couple of times. good luck
please mark the post with a fixya

Dirty video head! Playback newly opened blank tape for five minutes, after that eject, reinsert, playback then eject again five times, these will serve as your video head cleaner, never use "video head cleaning cassette tape" for it will only damage your camera. Most camera has built in video head cleaner installed inside and activates only when you insert, initial play/rec, and ejects a tape. If the problem is still there you need pro fix then.[:0)

The problem is usually caused by no drum rotation. Have it serviced.