I just bought a SONY DCR HC96 camcorder and started using it to transfer some old 8mm video onto mini DV tape. All was fine until yesterday when the transfer suddenly went into b/w mode. I was not aware of hitting any unseen buttons or promts on the touch screen. Strangely, if I rewind/play or fast forward/play the original tape while the DV cam is in record mode, the original footage shows up as color. But once I return to regular play, it reverts to b/w. I tried going into the main menu and checking all options to make sure there was no b/w filter activated, but could not get to the bottom of it.

With regular recording, the color works. The black and white is only happening on the transfers. Also, please note, I was able to transfer about six hours of color footage successfully. This problem seems to have just kicked in.

Anyone have a suggestion on how I can correct this? I've been through the manual and cannot find anything that indicates what is wrong.

Many thanks!

Peter

not sure if this is your answer given the nature of your "it only just started happening" but I will mention that b+w capture can be a symptom of playing NTSC footage on a PAL device.

Check setting son the two cameras to make sure they are that same video type.

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I'm not young enough to know everything!

Thanks so much for the incredibly quick response, Alan. Actually, the original footage was shot in NTSC format and both machines are NTSC. It seems as though I tripped something on the camcorder but for the life of me I cannot figure out what I did. All the best,

Peter

Do you have the manual so you can refer to it, if not you should be able to download a pdf from the maker.

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Wil

Canon HV30 Filter and lens Comparison http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pK07VxBnqCM
You tube channel (Vegas Tutorials)
http://www.youtube.com/ChapmanPhotography

If nothing else there should be an option to revert to factory settings somewhere I would imagine.

Also, do run a good tape head cleaner through it a couple of times just to be sure.

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I'm not young enough to know everything!

Thanks so much to everyone for their kind and swift replies. I am brand new to this, so it really is great to have the input. I'll try and revert the camera to the factory setting -- hopefully the manual will give me some leads on this. Otherwise, have tried all the options mentioned thus far.

Much appreciated,

Peter

Just found an online manual (PDF) for this camcorder and at the back it has a troub le shooting guide. For the NTSC copy I found on page 106 it has

Q. The color of the picture is not correctly displayed.
A. Deactivate the NightShot function (p33)

Don't know if that might help. Worth a check.

Also it look slike the Full reset option is described on page 35.

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I'm not young enough to know everything!

Thanks, Alan. I reset the camcorder and it began to work again. Then...back to b/w. I'm now convinced it is the tape deck and not the camcorder.

Again, hugely appreciated!

Best,

Peter