View Full Version : Mini-DV Question, Am I screwed???


Joshua Jezioro
February 24th, 2006, 10:44 AM
I shot nearly two hours of footage for an amateur movie I'm doing. I did a no no and accidentally left the two mini-DV tapes in the car overnight. Now when I try to play them (not the camera I recorded them on), they play slow and with no sound.

Could there be another (fixable) source of the problem? I popped in a mini-DV that I taped on that camcorder and it worked.

Or am I just completely screwed and need to re-shoot?

Andrew Khalil
February 24th, 2006, 11:18 AM
did you try playing them right away? I'm thinking it could have been condensation on the tapes and if you let them dry out, they may work. Otherwise, sorry to say, you may be in for a reshoot.

Mark Bournes
February 24th, 2006, 11:26 AM
What are you playing them on now? It could be a setting on the deck, or as said previously, it could be condensation and they need to dry out. Make sure the deck is in the right mode, ie: lp or sp mode. Switching these settings may help in your playback problem.

Patrick King
February 24th, 2006, 01:15 PM
After you've let them "dry out" as mentioned below, I would make sure they are at room temp and repack the tapes (fast forward to the end of the tape, then rewind to the beginning), then attempt to play.

Leonard Levy
February 24th, 2006, 01:26 PM
My guess is its an LP , SP problem or an incompatible deck. Leaving in the car shouldn't be a problem unless you left the windows open and it got rained on.