Sd card is there a limit to the card capacity for use on this camcorder. I would like to use at leasr 8gb, if not 16 or 32.

I assume you are referencing an SD (memory) card. Some devices such as digital cameras have a limitation on the storage capacity of the SD card and simply will not recognize card with a greater capacity. For instance; most basic digital cameras will not accept a 64GB card and display "CARD".
Try a smaller capacity card. (8GB /16GB / 32GB)
You might also try reformatting the card that is giving you the error code. In the format screen, select FAT32

1 Insert your SanDisk 8GB memory card into a card reader connected to your computer.

2 Double-click "Macintosh HD" on your desktop.

3 Click on the "Applications" folder, then the "Utilities" folder.
4 Double-click "Disk Utility". Look on the left side to locate the drive that says "SanDisk.
5 Select the capacity of the drive on the left side of the window. The capacity will state "8GB" or "8,388,608 kilobytes." Click on the "Erase" tab to format the memory card. When you see "SanDisk" listed as the device's name, the capacity will be located above. You need to select the capacity and not the device.
6 Select the appropriate "Volume Format." Under the "Volume Format" button, select the format you wish to use. Select "Mac OS Extended" if the SanDisk 8GB will only be used on Macs, or "MS-DOS (FAT)" if you will share the card between a Mac and PC. Select "Erase" to complete the format of your SanDisk 8GB memory card.

There are no 8GB SD cards. A card that size is actually an SDHC card. SD and SDHC cards fit the same slots, but they are slightly different. Many cameras won't work with the SDHC (high capacity) cards. SDHC is not backwards compatible.

Unless your manual specifically says that your camera can use an SDHC card, then it won't be able to. The maximum size of an SD card is 2GB. If you need more space, just carry a couple of cards and swap them, like people used to do when they filled up a film.

Some digital cameras can handle large memory cards as they are unable to format or manage that size of memory. Check your user manual which will tell you the maximun size allowed.

Use a higher quality SD card. PNY or SanDisk usually works well with flash camcorders. Also make sure it's a HCSD card ( High Capacity ).

Check your mini SD card and see if it has the SDHC (high capacity) logo on it. Originally SD cards, including the mini SD, had a 2GB limit by protocol. The DC10 was introduced when this was the most advanced protocol. Since then the SDHC protocol has been introduced, but the DC10 is not compatible with SDHC. You need to get a mini SD, 2GB maximum capacity.

If it is 8GB, it is an SDHC (high capacity) card. The protocol for SDHC is different than that for an SD card. SD card protocol handles a maximum of 2GB. This camcorder came out in 2003, well before the SDHC protocol was developed, and the camera is not compatible with it.

There are two types of SD cards. The first, standard type, had a capacity limit of 4GB. But quite soon the technology advanced and higher capacity Flash memory has been developed, so the standard had to be revised - and SDHC was born (HC stands for High Capacity), which includes cards having 4GB and above.
There is an overlap, as you can see, because there are 4GB CD cards, and 4GB SDHC cards on the market.

Now your DELL is an older machine, and it's card reader is not compatible with the new SDHC standard. And it will not be, even with a BIOS update.

You have two options: find a 4GB SD card (they are hard to find, majority will be SDHC) and stick with this capacity, or purchase an USB SD/SDHC card reader, which is cheap, and use it to transfer files to/from your 8GB card.

Try formatting the card while its in the camcorder, this might sort the problem for you, also look in the camera's menu to see if its restricted to a certain amount of used memory at once, basically return the camera to factory settings.
I find a lot of camera's don't like certain SD cards anyway even if the camera says it supports them, Sandisc are making just about the best SD cards at the moment

kind regards

There is no limit beyond the limits of the SD cards themselves. The JVC Everio GZ-MG21EK camera DOES NOT support SDHC cards, so you are restricted to the smaller capacities of the non-SDHC SD cards. I am successfully using a 2GB SD card in this model.

Stewart