First off, a short story: Last Spring I was on a pontoon boat in the gulf of mexico (story is already getting bad). I had my Optura 50 with me. We were hitting waves. Suddenly, a big one hit us, huge wave comes up and hits me while my camcorder is still on (and filming!). Not good.

Turns out, after a few days of letting it dry, everything works, but one very very key feature. I can't remove the tape. I open up the side, and nothing happens. The system of tape removal and putting tapes in does not work at all. It's amazing that is the only broken feature considering the salt-water bath the Optura got. But I'd still like to be able to remove my tape!

It's almost been a year that I've been re-recording over the same tape, and I'm getting sick of it. Anyone know how I could possibly remove and add tapes without using the Optura's automatic system??