I had a Sony HD mini dv camcorder back in 2007-08. I no longer have it so I purchased a canon on eBay. When I try and play the tapes I get incorrect tape specifications playback restricted. Now what

There are two solutions, one, buy a mini dv tape player. They are kind of expensive, but you will be able to get your information off your tapes. Second, buy a used, working mini dv camcorder on ebay and use it to get your information off your tapes. A five year old camcorder is not work fixing.

Hi there,

The most common cause of this is dust, debris or contamination on the heads.

Firstly, it's extremely important that you use only DRY LUBRICANT type DV tapes on the Canon branded camcorders.

Different manufacturers design their heads to be used with either Dry or Wet (coating lubricant type) tapes - NEVER BOTH. Canon is DRY type.

Consumers are led to believe that they should be using well known branded DV tapes, such as Sony. This is fine, if your camcorder is a Sony. However, you should NEVER use Sony tapes in your Canon - Sony tapes are of the WET type.

So, the question is, "Are you currently using Dry or Wet type tapes, or a mixture of both?" If you have used either a WET tape, or a mixture of both in your Canon, then this may have contaminated your heads.

If this is so, then don't panic - simply run a special Head Cleaning cassette (for Dry tapes) in your Canon for no more than 5 secs. Note: your heads are very delicate, so only run the cleaning tapes for a few secs at a time.

Also, try to avoid recording over the cassette too many times, as the quality will sometimes degrade each time.

An example of the Dry tapes are the Panasonic ones (Myself and other Pro Videographers often use Panasonic Prof, Studio or Master Quality tapes, as these are some of the better quality Dry tapes on the market).

As your XL2 is a Pro Camcorder, I recommend you stick with Studio quality (or higher) cassettes.

See this link for Dry DV tapes: http://cgi.ebay.com/Panasonic-mini-DV-digital-video-cassette-AY-DVM63SQ-5pk-/170645949017?pt=US_Camcorder_Tapes_Discs&hash=item27bb4a8a59

or

http://cgi.ebay.com/5-Panasonic-Master-HDV-HD-video-tape-HC9-Mini-DV-/220519311691?pt=US_Camcorder_Tapes_Discs&hash=item3357f9a94b


See this link for Head Cleaner cassette: http://cgi.ebay.com/MiniDV-mini-DV-Panasonic-Head-Cleaner-Cleaning-Tape-/220683036059?pt=US_Camcorder_Tapes_Discs&hash=item3361bbe59b


If the problem still exists after head cleaning, then suspect either a faulty cassette (most likely) or damaged heads requiring service.

Let me know how you get on...


Scott



"If this has helped you, please be kind enough to leave a testimonial"

You'll need a Mini DV player - I believe Canon or Sony has one. Then you can connect the player to a computer instead of using the camera.

Recommend contacting your local service provider directly or online here:
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any recordings made from another digital video device may not meet the same specifications to play back correctly in any other brand model unfortunately. some work and some don't

If you are referring to the JVC GR-DVL520, yes it does play Mini DV tapes, as well as records to them. It will not play Mini DV tapes that were recorded on an HDV camera. HDV is used by any Mini DV camera that records HD video.

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

yes

I DON'T THINK YOU HAVE A PROBLEM EXCEPT TRYING TO USE A GENERIC TAPE TO RECORD IN HD AND THEN EXPECTING IT TO PLAYBACK IN HD. IT WASN'T MADE FOR THAT AND WON'T WORK FOR HD. IF YOU ARE GOING TO USE A HD CAMERA, YOU NEED TO USE THE CORRECT HD TAPES TO EXPECT THEM TO WORK AND PLAYBACK CORRECTLY. WHY WOULD YOU BUY ONE OF THE MOST EXPENSIVE CAMERAS ON THE MARKET AND THEN USE A $2.00 TAPE AND TRY TO PLAY IT ON A $2000.00 CAMERA AND WONDER WHY IT DOESN'T WORK? BUY GOOD QUALITY TAPES.