On 16 Apr 2001 03:31:19 GMT, dlsjr5@aol.com (DLSJR5) wrote:

>I've encountered something that is not making me happy.
>
>After a few plays and rewinds, a couple of the tapes I've made have digital
>artifacts moving through the screen for a few seconds.
>
>As a relatively new camera owner, I was hoping to survey the collective wisdom
>here to help me with some questions.
>
>Is this common? Is this likely to be a camera problem or a tape problem?
>
>Does it get worse the more the tape is played? I am afraid to do much more with
>the tapes. I'm trying to back them up to VHS.
>
>Thanks for your thoughts..

This is not normal, though it may still be caused by mixing
tape brands (there is mixed opinion on this still...).
If you have used only one tape brand, I would attempt to
get a replacement or repair of the camcorder... You may
first want to try getting a cleaning tape of the same brand
as your most-used tape, and use it (5-second passes in
VCR play mode, with 30-second spaces between passes, maybe
3-4 passes total), since this may cure the problem...