I've been having issues with my miniDV camcorder when importing footage from a bunch of tapes. The tapes were recorded from 2008 to just recently. So here's the problem ...
1. As I import the tapes, the sound on the camcorder crackles and the import screen in iMovie alternates between widescreen and 4:3.
2. Usually the first set of clips (Day 1) imports fine, but subsequent days are messed up. The messed up clips show a "25" in the thumbnail and floating the mouse over the "25" says that the clip was recorded at 25 fps. I know that's not the case.
3. The time remaining on the tape (as shown on the camcorders LCD screen does not equal the actual time remaining. For instance, the tape might be 15 minutes in, but the time remaining might show 30 minutes left. I record everything on SP, so the times should add up to around 60 minutes.
4. Lastly, somehow, I stumbled onto a fix. First, I rewind/eject the tape and turn the camcorder off. Then I insert the tape back in, while the camcorder is off. I close the tape mechanism and then turn the camcorder back on. If I import on Auto, without using FF, Play, or Rew, it'll import the tape perfectly. There's only one set of clips that aren't importing properly ... it happens to be some footage I recorded right after this past Christmas. The tape isn't fully recorded onto yet, just 20 minutes of footage.
Has anyone heard of this before? I'm guessing that the tapes aren't corrupted and it's probably a problem with the camcorder. Since I've gotten 99% of the footage off of the tapes, I'm OK with abandoning miniDV altogether ... though I would like to grab the last batch of video.
Thanks ... and sorry for the long post.
ADDENDUM - if anyone has suggestions for a new HD camcorder, I'd be interested in hearing about them. Also, the camcorder I currently have is the Canon Elura 100.
ft
1. As I import the tapes, the sound on the camcorder crackles and the import screen in iMovie alternates between widescreen and 4:3.
2. Usually the first set of clips (Day 1) imports fine, but subsequent days are messed up. The messed up clips show a "25" in the thumbnail and floating the mouse over the "25" says that the clip was recorded at 25 fps. I know that's not the case.
3. The time remaining on the tape (as shown on the camcorders LCD screen does not equal the actual time remaining. For instance, the tape might be 15 minutes in, but the time remaining might show 30 minutes left. I record everything on SP, so the times should add up to around 60 minutes.
4. Lastly, somehow, I stumbled onto a fix. First, I rewind/eject the tape and turn the camcorder off. Then I insert the tape back in, while the camcorder is off. I close the tape mechanism and then turn the camcorder back on. If I import on Auto, without using FF, Play, or Rew, it'll import the tape perfectly. There's only one set of clips that aren't importing properly ... it happens to be some footage I recorded right after this past Christmas. The tape isn't fully recorded onto yet, just 20 minutes of footage.
Has anyone heard of this before? I'm guessing that the tapes aren't corrupted and it's probably a problem with the camcorder. Since I've gotten 99% of the footage off of the tapes, I'm OK with abandoning miniDV altogether ... though I would like to grab the last batch of video.
Thanks ... and sorry for the long post.
ADDENDUM - if anyone has suggestions for a new HD camcorder, I'd be interested in hearing about them. Also, the camcorder I currently have is the Canon Elura 100.
ft