Can' get started

The directions seem simple, but when I press the record button, the camera appears to be recording for about 22 seconds and then I get a revolving hour glass symbol that isn't described anywhere in the manual. The camera then begins turning the record button on and off by itself and the hourglass comes and goes. I am not able to turn the camera off whether the hourglass is on the screen or not. This is my second camera. The same problem began with the first camera when I tried to format the 4G SDHC memory card. As soon as I pressed "yes" to format the camera left the set up mode by itself and then when I recorded the problem ocurred as described above. I tried a second new memory card with the same results. I am using the same card as I used in the first camera. The first time I turned this camera on it said the card was full. I followed the simple instructions for deleting files and it told me there were no files to delete. So I started recording with the results above. Why won't it work? Linda Lee