Please help, new to HV30...something is screwed up...Probably me

[blane64]

I have had a new HV30 for a couple of days, and have been very happy, playing with it over the weekend. I, like many, have been amazed at the quality of the video. I used it to load some SD DV tapes from my old camera onto my hard drive. At first I used VideoStudio 11, but then it gave me a couple of errors, so I switched to the trial version of Vegas Platinum. All of that seemed to go fine, but when I put the tape back in that I had recorded my HDV footage on over the weekend so I could download it as well....then came the problem.

Problem, as in, I try to capture, and all I get is the blue screen, no video. I had captured some HDV over the weekend, so I know it works. Even when I disconnected the camera from Firewire and just tried to watch the video on the LCD screen, same thing, it is like the tape is blank...

So I am not too dumb. I had stopped on the way home tonight and picked up some new Panasonic MiniDV tapes. I unwrapped a new tape, and popped it in, and recorded a minute or so of video. Again, unable to play it or download it. It sure looked like it was recording (little red light, tape counter running, etc.)

So, I figured I had screwed up some setting somewhere, so I ran thru the menus, etc. I got all confused, so I removed the battery, and hit the reset button. No different. Unable to play back, or download HDV footage.

This is rather important, as I bought this camera to record the birth of my 4th child. He is due in a couple of weeks, but you know how that goes. He could come anytime.

I am kind of freaking out....What have I done?

I don't think I mixed HDV and DV recordings, I haven't done any DV recordings on the HV30

Oh, just tried HDVSplit which worked fine over the weekend. It says "No data received from camcorder, Capture stopped" or similar message.

Update: I just tried to record on SD, and when i played it back, I got the same alternating gray lines that I got on my old (barely over a year old, just out of warranty...) Canon ZR600, which is why I needed to buy a new camcorder. I wonder if one of the tapes I used in my old camera was bad and screwed up the head, and now since I downloaded the tape tonight it has now screwed my 4 day old HV30? I will go see if I can find a head cleaner tape locally, but they didn't have one at BestBuy when I looked today when i bought my new tapes....I have a very bad feeling.....Hmm, $200 dollars per day is a helluva camera rental, don't ya think?

Please somebody, anybody....I am such an idiot.

Thanks

[Vinney]

Are you able to play your tape back to tv monitor? never mind...where did you buy this camera? If you bought it locally, are you able to return it to the salesperson and have them show you how to use it. Some shops will let you test the camcorder right there amd up can connect to their TV sets so that you can see what the video quality looks like.

And why are you loading old DV tapes on a new HV30; I mean the whole idea is to record HD video, not stick a bunch of old tapes in there. I don't think your camera likes you for doing that. One thing I've found out by reading threads at his site is that there are two modes on the camera for capture: one for HDV and another for SD. I wonder which mode or switch you had on when you tried to capture???

[blane64]

Thanks for the reply.

I cannot play back via HDMI, and I could before. It is like the HDV part of the camera is busted, record or playback mode.

I was loading tapes in the new fancy camera because it is my only working(or WAS my only working) MIniDV camera. When my ZR600 stopped working I had several MiniDv tapes that had not been put on the hard drive, so I was trying to be good and get all my stuff on the hard drive before storing the tapes. Seems like I may have made a mistake.

I bought it from Newegg.com, they have already given me an RMA# but I am worried about being without a camera for very long due to my wife's condition. I guess I can always borrow a camera, but don't want to do that unless I have to.

[Erik Bien]

If you have a head cleaning cassette you might try running it through the camera.

One difference between DV and HDV is that where DV compresses each frame individually, HDV does it a group-of-pictures at a time (thus, it's a 'long GOP' codec) so schmutz on the heads which would perhaps show a badly garbled picture with DV might not play back at all with HDV.

Certainly if the same tape that spelled the end of your ZR600 has apparently bricked your HV30, I'd think twice about loading it into another camera!

[blane64]

I will try a head cleaning tape tomorrow. If I am the one that broke it, I cannot in good conscience return it to Newegg. I may have to eat it (eww, that is a bitter taste...:eek:) I am just not sure what happened. I am not sure which tape was the last one in the ZR600, or the last one in the HV30. I had a pile of about 6 that I did tonight as I was playing with the kids and watching TV.

[Erik Bien]

just between you, me and the 10,000 lurkers, the HV series have had their fair share of initial quality control issues, including cameras that shipped with heads dirty enough to cause dropouts until cleaned. So if the cleaning cassette doesn't do the trick, I'd play dumb and use the RMA number ... :hv20-smilie29:

[Fred Dwyer]

Your reluctance to return the camera because the problem is your fault is illogical. You don't know what bolixed it up. If you had dropped it, run over it, submerged it, your position would be correct and admirable. Return it.

[Vinney]

Return it as Fred says, and do it pronto. With your wife expecting, you don't have the luxury of trouble shooting and trying to figure it out yourself. You're not tech-support. NewEgg is pretty good about returning things that don't work properly. Help yourself by having a backup plan, that is, someone else, a friend, that might have a camera to help with the video taping of your wife's huge event. (By the way, if you record in HDV make sure you have that mode on your camera when you capture....should not try to capture hdv when you have the SD mode on the camera.)

[blane64]

I got an RMA number from Newegg last night. Today I called and explained the whole situation. they were very cool about it. The actually changed my RMA from a Replacement to a Refund, so that I could go ahead and order a new camera and have it on the way while shipping back the old one. I offered to pay shipping back to them but they took care of it. As soon as the first one gets there I will get a refund. That is good customer service. They already had my business, now they have it for good.

So, in about 3 days I should have another shiny HV30. I think I might watch on Ebay for a basic MiniDV camera, cheap, to use to load any OLD tapes I have laying around from 2005...:hv20-smilie50: