Meant to add that a way to verify that the problem is caused by whats stated above is to try to play a tape that was recorded from some time in the past, it should play!!

If you are not a technical person then there is unfortunately nothing that you can do, as the problem referred to can either be caused by a faulty connection on the ribbon cable that couples the CCD to the video input board, this located on the top "inside" of the casing, or alternatively by a faulty system switch. Ignore references that may be seen elsewhere to the infamous "lens cap" problem, as the reasons for that fault is "not" applicable to your model.