Urgent help needed - XH-A1s won't play
 

Hi guys, hope someone can help?

I haven't used my camcorder since a wedding 2 months ago, I copied stuff to my PC that night

I've just gone to transfer an old tape of my new baby to the PC and it won't play. It sees the tape, recognises the timecode, will fast forward and rewind but nothing plays, if I have the tape door open I can see that the 2 reels at each side don't move when pressing play

Any ideas?
I've hardly ever used the camera in the 18 months I've had it (maybe 10 hours tops) so it's gutting that it doesn't work right now

any help/advice?
can I take it anywhere (am in the UK)?

Do any other tapes play?

No, but these tapes work in a different camera (with a different size firewire port that I don't have a cable for)

can you A1 rewind and FF the tape? Do you have a blank to try record/playback? All this will help narrow down if it's the tape jammed or the camera tape mechanism.

OK, the tapes FFWD & REW in the A1
it appears to record (no errors, time goes up) but if I put that tape in my other camera to look at it there's no timecode on that part of the tape and no audio/video (tried twice for short period and long period). BUT it appears to do something to the tape because whatever was already on the tape appears after what I just "recorded" (it's like it's erasing that bit of the tape!) so the tape must be moving when in record mode

I just nipped out and bought a cleaning tape and now it's working, wow this camera must be temperamental!
I've never owned one that needed cleaning before, let alone after so little use!

THere's many threads in the Long Thin Line forum about the debate over head cleaning and similar topics. One topic is about sticking to the same brand and not reusing tapes. I've had trouble whenever I reused a tape or switched between cameras. I always use a new tape or record on previously unused portions. The result has been the disappearance of those types of problems.

I have always used the same type of tape from the same manufacturer and never reused a tape so that's not the problem!

Good. Keep up with that. What tape stock are you using?

Actually, 18 months without a head cleaning isn't bad. Keep an eye on it tho. If you don't review your recording, dirty heads can ruin the recording not just a capture.

Cheers for all the replies Les. I use sony premium dv tapes, bought loads when I got the camera.

You may want to switch to HD tapes.