I recently purchased the Cannon ZR 850 MiniDV camcorder along with Fuji Film DV tapes (DVM60). My first recordings have produced some blotchy digital effects on both the viewfinder and on the TV when viewed there. They are little digital blocks that appear, then go away... know what I mean?

It leads me to believe it's the tapes but I don't know. The camera is new so I am thinking the heads don't need cleaning yet.

This happened last night while recording, then it stopped for a while and the video was clean. I tried again this morning and got the same occassional digital blotching. Is it the camera? The tapes?

Any help is very much appreciated!
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Are the blotches random or do they occur in the same spots all the time? If they are random then it is a camera/playback issue. If they occur in the same spot all the time, then it could be a tape issue.

They are at random... different parts of the screen. What issue with the camera is this? If I were to call Cannon, what would I want to reference? I was hoping I could fix this.

TS, if you bought it locally, I'd exchange it for another of the same model (or something different) while you're still able to, in case the camera is defective. Also make sure you are recording in SP mode and using professional grade tapes of 63 minute length or less. If you have a head cleaning cassette, try playing it for 5 seconds at a time, as many as three times.