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How to connect a DV cam without a firewire port?

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xtrips


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Hello,

I just got my wife a MacMini although I warned her that I am completely♦ ignorant in the Apple world.
Well, now i have to help her sort things out :Angry-Tongue:
So she wants to connect our DV camcorder to her MacMini to capture movies in iMovie '09.
But the MacMini does not have a firewire port. Only USB ports.
And it refuses to recognize the cam.
Is there a workaround?
Maybe a third party driver?

Thanks
 
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Nethfel


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Your Mac's Specs
Late 2013 rMBP, i7, 750m gpu, OSX versions 10.9.3, 10.10
Umm, the Mac Mini does have firewire (if you doubt me, look here: http://www.apple.com/macmini/specs.html under peripheral connections) - it's firewire 800, and you'll need to use a cable or intermediary device that will step the firewire 800 to firewire 400 to hook in your camcorder.

You can't use a USB connection to transfer video from a DV camcorder (if it were a hard disk based standard def camcorder it'd be a different story) - you need to use firewire.
 
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xtrips


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Nethfel said:
Umm, the Mac Mini does have firewire (if you doubt me, look here: Apple - Mac mini - Technical Specifications under peripheral connections) - it's firewire 800, and you'll need to use a cable or intermediary device that will step the firewire 800 to firewire 400 to hook in your camcorder.

You can't use a USB connection to transfer video from a DV camcorder (if it were a hard disk based standard def camcorder it'd be a different story) - you need to use firewire.
Click to expand...

Well it does work with USB on PC!
Anyway, thank you very much. You helped me and saved me some wasted time.
I understand that a standard firewire cable, which I do own, is not compatible with the Mac Mini.
Could you point me to the right cable needed for the task?
 
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Nethfel


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Yeah, USB video transfer is supported in Windows, just not in mac (at least not for transfer on cameras that use cassettes)

can use something like this:

Amazon.com: Belkin 6ft FIREWIRE 800/400 Cable ( F3N403-06-APL ): Electronics

or

Amazon.com: Micro Accessories FIR-1369-AD-01 400 to 800 FireWire Adapter: Electronics

just do a search for Firewire 800 to 400 - there are plenty of options in all price ranges :)

Personally, I have an external hard drive chassis that has FW 400, 800, USB and esata on it. I plug the 800 into the mini, then my camera into the 400 port on the hd chassis.
 
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xtrips


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Nethfel said:
Yeah, USB video transfer is supported in Windows, just not in mac (at least not for transfer on cameras that use cassettes)

can use something like this:

Amazon.com: Belkin 6ft FIREWIRE 800/400 Cable ( F3N403-06-APL ): Electronics

or

Amazon.com: Micro Accessories FIR-1369-AD-01 400 to 800 FireWire Adapter: Electronics

just do a search for Firewire 800 to 400 - there are plenty of options in all price ranges :)

Personally, I have an external hard drive chassis that has FW 400, 800, USB and esata on it. I plug the 800 into the mini, then my camera into the 400 port on the hd chassis.
Click to expand...

Thanks again for your help.
I think I'll be hanging around this forum a lot :Smirk:
 

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