Can anybody diagnose this picture error

[Jake Mcginty]

This is in no way a professional diagnosis, but it looks to me like a broken sensor or some kind of broken connection inside of the camera as opposed to a dirty head.

[David Hasler]

Appreciate your response. I noticed that just looking at the live picture in the view screen
during recording, the picture is unsteady – some horizontal interference lines are visible,
More evidence that it is not the heads themselves. However, the basic camera displays on the
view screen are crystal clear, such as the setup screens.
I found a brief 5 second clip that the sender probably did as a test. At first, the picture was clear
and full screen. Later after a few attempted test recordings of my own, I stumbled on the senders
clip again, and this time it was almost as bad as the picture I posted.

At this point I’ve got to believe the camera has been a casualty of the journey
it took across the country. It’s a shame, I was looking forward to working with digital video
for the first time. One of the reasons I got it was to digitize my old collections of HI8 tapes.

I will be returning it tomorrow, the seller is anxious to get it back, he wants to take
it for evaluation – I can understand that. I wonder how many ebay sales small electronics get damaged
during shipping ? Especially since it’s not in original packaging?

Seems as if the Canon Elura doesn’t have a good reputation. I read many reports on the review sites
of the units failing prematurely. Any other cameras have the analog-digital passthrough?
What about other brands?
Thanks,
Dave H.