I posted this on another thread a while back, but it is appropriate here as well...
You might look on eBay for a non-working camera, or do a search for "miniDV needs repair." It is not unusual for the imaging electronics to go out on a camera while the playback portions will still work fine. It is so expensive to repair these cameras that they have little or no value.
Look through the descriptions for a good camera that still plays back but will no longer create a good image. You might be able to get a compact and inexpensive miniDV deck out of it.
Dave
http://www.HowToVideoPRO.com