My sony camcorder CCDTRV308 will not play the tapes. Any suggestions on what to do?

I have the exact same camera and same exact same problem. Any analog Video8 or Hi-8 camcorder or VCR will play these tapes.

By using the same cassettes as Hi8, many (NOT ALL) Digital8 (produced by Sony exclusively) camcorders are able to play analog Video8/Hi8 recordings, preserving compatibility with already recorded analog tapes.

you can connect Digital8 camcorders to your computer to download your movies for editing or Internet use.

As of 2008, Digital8 camcorders have been removed from the equipment offered by Sony.

This could be a Capstan problem, it is common on lots of cameras like yours, have you run a cleaning cas tape through the camera of late? if not get one from your local shop and put it in and leave it on record button for 30 sec then run it on play 30 sec.

Follow this procedure to troubleshoot if a blue screen is displayed when attempting to playback video from the camcorder.

1. Stop the tape.
2. Ensure the tape has been rewound to the beginning of the video recording.
3. Play the tape.
4. If the issue is not resolved, stop the tape and remove it from the camcorder.
5. Clean the video heads of the camcorder using a dry head cleaning cassette.IMPORTANT: Follow the instructions for use provided with the head cleaning cassette. It may be necessary to use the head cleaning cassette more than once per session.
   
6. Reinsert the tape into the camcorder.
7. Play the tape.
8. If the issue is not resolved, stop the tape and remove it from the camcorder.
9. Insert a different tape with video footage into the camcorder.
10. Ensure the tape has been rewound to the beginning of the video recording.
11. Play the tape.

NOTES:

• If a blue screen is still displayed, then the camcorder may require service .
• If the tape plays back correctly, then the first tape may be faulty or there is a problem with the video recording.

need to go to an AUTHORIZED SONY REPAIR SHOP to get it fix , these camcorders are very delicate and needs to be tune and realign by a SONY EXPERT TECHNICIAN , thanks AJ

A vcr or dvd-recorder only reads the input signal. It does not care where it is coming from, only that it is there. You would have to run it through the vcr or dvdr for it to read the signal, or copy it to your computer and burn it to dvd.

It could need a head adjustment. Any camera store can do that for you.

Clean the head and try again

Recording and playing a new tape worked for me too. Thanks!

a sony cleaning cassette may clear the gunk from your friend ' s possibly ? bad tapes ( do not rewind it - or the gunk will be redeposited ) ; if still no video , get an estimate to have your heads and guides cleaned . . . professionally ;

Fidus, I am not sure where you are located but the camcorder you're trying to use now is a PAL version of Sony's 8mm camcorder. If the tapes you recorded earlier were recorded in D8 (digital 8) or 8mm/Hi8 format NTSC, they will not play correctly in this unit. The NTSC and PAL formats are different and not compatible. Hope this helps you. Joe Weibel customelectronics.org