I have a Nikon VN7200 Hi8 camcorder (a rebadged Sony that's about 15 years old), which is only used now to transfer video to my computer. I can't get it to load tapes now. There is a water-drop icon flashing in the display, which I presume is a condensation indicator. The camcorder hasn't been out of the house in 8 years, so I reckon the sensor is busted.
I borrowed a Canon Hi8 camcorder, but it won't play my tapes properly (although
the tapes recorded on it play without any problem). The image flickers very badly, and there are loads of dropped frames when I try and capture it.
I was thinking of getting a secondhand Sony camcorder on eBay, but I'm worried that it might not play my tapes properly. The other option is to try and get the camera fixed.
Any suggestions as to how I retrieve my priceless family videos would be much appreciated. Thanks

I have an old Sony Digital 8 with which I had this problem.

I would try two things.

1. Leave the cassette door open for an hour in a dry warmish environment and try a tape.

2. The problem could be caused by dust in the cassette compartment or on the tape itself. Check for dust on the tape. With dust in the cassette compartment I used a can of compressed air on the inside then left it for an hour to warm up. In my case this solved it, but beware of holding the air nozzle too close to the inside as you could damage fragile components.

Hope this helps.