Please don't laugh as this issue can affect many people using the new standard of card camcorders who may not be using computers 
A relation of mine isn't up to speed with computers, for years she used tape, however 3 years ago she moved to a Panasonic camcorder with a SD card.
She doesn't edit her footage, just shoots her film and stores it on the camcorder memory card, mainly if local rural events and sells copies on request. When the card is full she buys another card!
She makes DVD's by running the film into her Panasonic DVD recorder every time (ouch), I have advised her to keep a DVD copy and explained she could copy her way by copying to her DVD recorder from a DVD player.
However she has hit a big snag, her camcorder has died and two other Panasonic camcorder models won't read her cards and show 'No Data'
Easy for me to make a DVD of her footage using the computer, as all of serious video buffs do.
Am I missing something here regarding reading old original footage on cards?
If your camcorder dies, you can no longer access your recordings on another camcorder as the file structure isn't recognised!
I would welcome any ones else's experience with reading memory cards recorded on another camcorder, I know camera's of different brands have this issue but I would have thought camcorders of the same type and brand could have read the file structure of sister models
Cheers
I run Sony & Panny camcorders plus occasionally recording video footage on still cameras, ALL the cards can be read on my PC but the file formats are all different on the cameras! Recently I found a card that had started life on an Olympus still cam & was subsequently used on a Panny still cam, both had been recording footage, the Panny couldn`t read the Olympus files but created it`s own file structure.
I always back up in 2 ways, one to a data DVD & the other to a HD! Belt & braces.
SD cards recorded in my old Canon HF M36, will play in the Canon G25. Looks like we are tied to one brand of camera!
Thanks Barry and John
Belt and Brace's every time for me Barry, however as you know, not all people think like that until it all goes wrong
Interesting about the Canon's John, why the Panny's aren't so forgiving with each others cards is a pain.
I experimented today and copied one directory from the Panny V10 card onto my card, this time I did see a video, however it had a question mark and wasn't compatible with my Panny X800 camcorder, the both camcorders were both bought around 2012, so a Panny pain, although my relation's camcorder that V10 died was a lot cheaper 
She has been told by the shop where she purchased the camcorder that a new Panny will play her old cards, will she buy another camcorder or retire from her hobby, she always wanted to stay with tapes and is despondent about having her camcorder die within three years, she hardly used her Panasonic V10 in year one
Tell her that I have a Canon HV30 that I would sell, it records onto HDV/DV Tape
& I also have LOADS of S/H DV tape at knock down prices :-)
If your camcorder dies, you can no longer access your recordings on another camcorder as the file structure isn't recognised!
I would welcome any ones else's experience with reading memory cards recorded on another camcorder, I know camera's of different brands have this issue but I would have thought camcorders of the same type and brand could have read the file structure of sister models
I don't know if this relevant, but there are many (20ish) versions of 'HD Writer', the simple editing software that comes with Panasonic HD camcorders.
I know for certain that some later versions will not read the cards from earlier Panasonic models -- Panasonic themselves advised of that fact.
So there are some fundamental variations between the recorded format of different Panasonic 'SD Card' camcorder models.
One alternative that may work - without involving a computer - is to plug the SD cards into a media player - like a WD Live - and make a DVD by recording the output from that..
Just a thought....
Hi Barry
I have another solution in the pipeline at the moment, she is aware of you offer, although some pricing may focus her mind, by PM would be fine but no promises that she will bite.
Hi Rogs
I ruled out the HD Writer software due to her old but working computer, which I haven't even seen (She probably has the CD anyway, if she could find it), she has many videos going back 30 years and of increasing importance as the events she filmed are priceless memories for some local people. She has most of them available to be produced again, except the ones she filmed on her card camcorder.
I have a Sumvision Cyclone Micro 2+ Multi Media Player Adapter - Full HD HDMI 1080p and was going to try that option the other night.......except my remote control has a flat and flat CR2032 battery.
When the new battery arrive's I'll try it out, although I recall the order of playback was a bit hit and miss when I used it for over purpose, maybe camcorder files will work OK? I think there is also bit of nuisance menu info that flashes up for a few seconds at the start of the playback, worth a try anyway.
Thanks for your interest
Cheers
I would have thought that a 3 year old Panasonic would record to something like a standard file structure (AVCHD ?), and the fault could be different cameras recording in different resolutions 720p / 1080i / 1080p. I run 3 cameras (Sony A65 DSLR, Panasonic HMC151 and Panasonic TM900) which all record to a similar file structure, but which will not neccessarily read each others files within the camera. Once you insert the SD card in a PC, there should be no problem with reading the individual files unless recording time are very long and individual 4 GB files need to be stitched together seamlessly. The only remaining problem could be related to the SD card capacity and whether it is an SD, SDHC or SDXC card, as each of these have diifferent file systems - FAT16 (up to 4 GB), FAT32 (up to 32 GB) or exFAT (above 32 GB). A card reader made for SDXC should be backward compatable with all other file formats.
I would have thought that a 3 year old Panasonic would record to something like a standard file structure (AVCHD ?), and the fault could be different cameras recording in different resolutions 720p / 1080i / 1080p. I run 3 cameras (Sony A65 DSLR, Panasonic HMC151 and Panasonic TM900) which all record to a similar file structure, but which will not neccessarily read each others files within the camera. Once you insert the SD card in a PC, there should be no problem with reading the individual files unless recording time are very long and individual 4 GB files need to be stitched together seamlessly. The only remaining problem could be related to the SD card capacity and whether it is an SD, SDHC or SDXC card, as each of these have diifferent file systems - FAT16 (up to 4 GB), FAT32 (up to 32 GB) or exFAT (above 32 GB). A card reader made for SDXC should be backward compatable with all other file formats.
This seems to be he problem :(
http://camcorders.about.com/od/buyingguide/a/Panasonic-Hc-V10-Camcorder-Overview.htm
The HC-V10 uses the MPEG-4 format for 1280 x 720p high definition recording - it's the only model in Panasonic's traditional camcorder lineup to offer this lower-resolution HD recording.
If she had recorded her films using iFrame instead I could probably play back her video files in my Panny, even if I had to copy the folder across as I did with the mp4 format highlighted above that my camcorder wouldn't play.
I've been through the obvious PC option before, she still has her recordings intact, just not in the way she wanted or expected.
All her recordings can be converted on a PC, that's not the immediate issue.
Cheers
Problem solved, with a second hand Panny V10 bought on ebay 