Canon Optura 50 miniDV- problems recording/playback- video and audio dropouts

Hello,

I have a Canon Optura 50 miniDV camcorder. I recently started experiencing problems during recording and playback: footage has video and audio dropouts, or no audio. All with new tapes (and rewound to remove slack). Doesn't happen every time. I tried using a head cleaning tape, no improvement.

I did a test: Record 5 seconds, turn camera off, turn back on and record 5 more seconds. The dropouts alternate occuring/not occuring- changing with the camera cycling off and on.

Has anyone ever experienced this? How can I fix this problem?

Thanks!