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Using a camcorder with my new Mac

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I have a Sony Handycam HC24e, which I was using with my pc until now. When I plugged it into our brand new iMac and switched it on, the Mac doesn't recognise anything as having been attached by USB. The installation disc that comes with the handycam says compatible with Mac OS, and there's a folder on the disc titled Mac. When I try to open that on the Imac, it just comes out as a page of random text.
Sony were totally unhelpful and seemed to imply the Handycam was NOT Mac compatible, which I find hard to believe. Any ideas out there? Thanks
 
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15" Unibody (Jan 09)
Open iMovie and click the camcorder button (The first button on the gray bar that runs across the middle of the program). Can you see your video clips in there?
 
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no, it automatically goes to the built-in camera. There's no option for my camcorder in the drop-down menu - it only lists the built-in iSite. The camcorder's on and the USB stream mode switched on too...
 
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Macbook 13" 2.13GHz - Intel Core 2 Duo 2GB DDR2 Memory - 160GB HD - NVIDIA GeForce 9400M
The camcorder's on and the USB stream mode switched on too...

Have you tried it with the USB stream mode turned off? To me that sounds as though its meant to send whatever the camera is seeing through the USB cable and use your computer as a display. You know, kind of like a web cam, a really expensive web cam.

I'm not sure about your particular model, but mine, a Sony HDR12, has a menu that pops up when I plug it into my Mac, I just tap on USB HD Connect and I'm on my way.
 
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Mine doesn't work at all with Firewire even though it should. Looks like something similar to his problem!
 
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no, doesn't work with streaming on or off, the Mac just doesn't acknowledge that the handycam's connected. Anyone know of a Mac driver for Sony handycams? I'm using a USB cable, not Firewire
 
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Macbook 13" 2.13GHz - Intel Core 2 Duo 2GB DDR2 Memory - 160GB HD - NVIDIA GeForce 9400M
no, doesn't work with streaming on or off, the Mac just doesn't acknowledge that the handycam's connected. Anyone know of a Mac driver for Sony handycams? I'm using a USB cable, not Firewire

I just looked your camera up on the Google, it appears that it is a miniDV camera. I'm guessing that it uses those little digital tapes, right? In my experience, you would need to use a firewire cable to capture this on a Mac.

Anyway, I think this is your problem. Firewire should allow you to capture your video in iMovie '09. You won't need any drivers.

Check out this link from Apple's site.

You'll typically need a cable that is 4 pin on one end and 6 pin on the other.

This is the cable you want, but shop around, you can probably find a better price.
 
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2011 MBP, i7, 16GB RAM, MBP 2.16Ghz Core Duo, 2GB ram, Dual 867Mhz MDD, 1.75GB ram, ATI 9800 Pro vid
Just to note; Firewire in Sony terms is called i.Link. The specs for that camera says it has an i.Link output.
 

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