Damn, left a miniDV tape on a hot surface..
 

Not for long, but the outside got damaged a bit and I can no longer fit it into the camera. Do you guys think the tape inside is still ok? Is there a way to take out the tape and put it into a new cartridge?

If I remember correctly, the spools can be removed from the cassette with the tape still attached. Pry apart a new one and see. Then if the spools come out of the new one easily you can take the spools with tape attached out of the damaged cassette and put them into the new one in one piece.

I believe most brands use very tiny screws and the screws may be covered and difficult to get at. The holes where the screws are on my Panasonic tapes aren't blocked and I have an extremely tiny phillips head screwdriver that fits in there. The Sony tapes may be the ones that have the screw holes blocked - can't remember.

John

Just took a look at a Sony DV tape. Very small Philips screws that are deeply recessed. You'll need a jewelers screwdriver to get it done.

It's going to be fiddly and there's no guarantee that your tape itself won't have warped. All the best and let us know how you went with it.

Andrew

Depends on how long the heat was applied. DV tape shells are made from ABS Polystryene material and one of its properties is resistance to heat, being left in hot cars etc.

You'll have better luck if the tape was rewound to start with no mag tape across the gate to get fried. But as others have said give it a shot, or take it to your local TV outlet, there'll be someone in the news dept. who's life depended on getting it done.

Take another tape of the same brand to junk the tape for its shell. Good luck.

Cheers.

Or you could just send it here.