Picked up a (new to me) gadget at the Goodwill today, didn't need it, have no real use for it but it was calling to me for $9.99 :D

It's an RCA 8mm VCR model VR800HF.
It works but the playback has no color except for a random rainbow flashing on the screen .
Could this be because I used a tape from my 8mm DV camera that fits physically but may be an incompatible format?? Or maybe the head is dirty/worn out?

Eric

I didn't know RCA sold an 8mm VCR. Any 8mm tape should work fine in that VCR. Check it over for leaking caps. That VCR would have been made right in the middle of the defective SMD cap era.

That machine won't play your Digital D8 tape from a sony handycam. It looks like it will play regular 8 tapes which are 240 line res just like VHS. There is also High 8 akin to SuperBeta and SuperVHS has about 400 lines. I've never seen an RCA 8 VCR, just Sony's. It may be made by a differnet company and rebranded RCA. Movies were released for a short time on 8, we had a couple when I worked at an electronics store a few years ago.

He was just using his digital 8 tape as a blank tape to record on with the RCA. You wouldn't see any picture at all when playing a digital 8 recording. Digital 8 tapes are just Hi-8 tapes which should work fine an an 8mm VCR for recording. It may, or may not be able to play Hi-8 recordings.

Around 1989-1995ish the surface mount electrolytic caps used by pretty much everyone had a tendency to leak electrolyte after a few years. It's not unusual to see a camcorder from that time period with every single cap leaking corrosive electrolyte all over the board.