MiniDV Camcorder Problem!

Okay so all the footage I took of the cottage has apparently vanished. Two tapes worth. I was talking to a friend about LP vs SP, and I switched to SP. I haven't used the camcorder in a week or so, everything was fine when I took the footage at the cottage. But now, when I go to playback, apparently there's no footage on the tape. The camcorder has been on LP mode for a long time now, and there've been no issues. I switched it back to LP, still nothing. Checked another tape, nothing. Used head cleaner, nothing. I even recorded 10 seconds worth of footage now, went to playback, rewinded, but when played, there's nothing there. It hasn't been dropped or anything, and it was working PERFECTLY last week.

Help me out here please, I was looking forward to some filming tomorrow:(
 
Well, my guess is that the recording is going okay, but the playback/reading head might be broken. Try running the tapes through another camera or DV deck (even if you have to borrow a friend's) If the tapes turn out okay, then the camera should be okay to record, just not play back.

Can you hear the tape moving at all when you put it in? Or is it completely silent?
 
You can hear the tape moving, rewinding, whatever.

When importing onto a laptop, the only thing the preview screen shows is a black screen with a bunch of random coloured squares. The actual video footage doesnt import.
 
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