My grandmother passed away earlier this week. I've had... "mixed" feelings. This grandmother wasn't a big deal in my life, because of other issues (she couldn't stand my mom until very late in life, so I hardly ever saw her,) so my feelings are more of "sad that I didn't know her" than "sadness at her loss". Plus, it has been known for months that she wasn't going to make it another year. (She did die within two days of the three year anniversary of her twin sister passing away.)

My dad asked me to film her memorial service today. Not a problem. It went reasonably well. (My dad is one of eight kids, and they all have very off-the-wall senses of humor, so there were only a few teared-up moments.) The recording happened just fine.

I got home, and got one of the two tapes recorded to my computer just fine. The second tape would play on the camera just fine, but it was sending very 'jittery' video to the computer. (MiniDV camera, I always record in 16:9 mode, and while the first tape was fine, the second tape seemed to switch from 16:9 to 4:3 multiple times per second on the computer, even though the feed on the camera itself was just fine.) Unsure if it was the tape or the camera, or the computer, I moved the camera to a second computer. Just to be safe, I even fast forwarded a few minutes, to see if it would be better there. It recorded about two seconds (of perfect video,) then the camera shut off.

Now the camera won't turn on again. It doesn't even make the slightest of acknowledgement of battery or wall power. (Yes, I know that the battery is good, and the power cord was working just fine mere minutes before it died.) Of course, it died with a tape still inside, a tape that contains the eulogies from my dad's siblings! (Not a part I want to lose, obviously.) The way the tape loads, the actual tape is presently wound around all the feed mechanisms, so I can't just yank the tape out (nor could I do even THAT without completely dismantling the camera.)

Anyone on here an expert on repair of Sony MiniDV cameras? (DCR-PC100 to be precise.)

I'm really annoyed. The camera I've been waiting for isn't even out yet (Canon HF100,) and I still have to film the graveside military service on Monday. (My grandmother was a Marine Corps Drill Instructor during World War 2. Yes, really.)