A/V discordance Thanks for your help! When I playback the tape, the audio and video are not coordinated. This usually happens after a few minutes of playback, but not immediately. I've tried to convert the analog recording to DVD through the Pinnacle Moviemaker device. The audio-video discoordination also shows up on the resultant DVD. Please help!!!

This is usually caused by an oxidized ,misaligned or defective Audio/Video drum. Try running a cleaning tape through the camera. If this does not solve the problem the camera will need to be repaired qualified service technician.

I only got the problem when the tape was bad. Usually the ribbon got folded, or was very wrinkly looking. Eventually I found out the drive was bad, and had to have it replaced.

perhaps the iris is fully down - check the F stop number - should be high not low to let more light in. Might help.

Problem is dirty / clogged video head of v-8 player or camcorder what ever you are using for playback. Use good quality video head cleaning cassette for head cleaning.
Please check tapes on another camcorder as tapes seems OK.

Clean the tape heads and see if that makes a difference.  If that doesn't work, it could be the tape motor is going out.  Thats typical behavior when that happens.

TRY A DRY TAPE CLEANER. A GOOD ONE DONT BE SKIMPY. OR YOU MIGHT NEED TO GET THIS CLEANED BY A PRO. SOUNDS LIKE YOUR HEAD IS DIRTY.

What's happening is that the tape in the cassette is being chewed on one side by the camera's tape transporting mechanism during playback, hence the distorted image and sound. The mechanism might be damaged (misalignment) or just dirty. Try not to play other tapes on this unit because they will become permanently damaged. The best way is to find another camcorder (if cleaning does not help). Note that some old cassettes of long recording time will exhibit this behavior more often because of thinner tape used.

Just use good quality Video Head Cleaning Cassette. Video head is dirty/ clogged.

audio "glitches" or dropout is a typical symptom of tape path misalignment. find a good local repair shop (are there any more of us still around?) and they should be able to perform this relatively simple alignment.

Try a different tape. The tape itself may be bad.