Stoopid camera (MiniDV JVC GRD70)

When I went to use my camcorder Sunday night, I got a repeating message reading “CONDENSATION, OPERATION PAUSED”, then “PLEASE WAIT” on the screen and the camera would not operate, except to add or remove a tape. The picture mode was working, but I could not record or playback video. This message kept coming up throughout the evening – I blew on the innnards, even took it up on deck to give it an airing out, but the message remained for the next couple days, until I checked it after we got home, and it was gone. I’d gotten it once before, but it had gone away, but this bugged me so I went Googling in search of answers.

And the solution is:
1. Clean off the moisture sensor with a Q-tip and Windex.
2. Don’t use Sony DV tapes as they cause a problem as they put a lubricant on the tapes which causes the JVC camera heads to get dirty.

I’m not surprised that the moisture sensor could get dirty, but I’m shocked that all DV tapes are not the same. I’ve gone through life expecting that audio tapes, video tapes, CDs and DVDs are all compatible and only differ by the quality of manufacture, so this is new to me. I’m going to try and burn DVDs of my Sony tapes first, so I won’t have to use them again.