Two days ago I purchased a MacBook Pro and it came with iMovie 08. I was able to connect my DCR-HC36 twice via FireWire 800 to my mac. It downloaded video for about 7 mins each time before the connection between the camcorder and mac would no longer be recognized. As this was a problem I had had with my old dell desktop and same camcorder, I thought it was the camcorder.
I called Sony and they were of no help. They don't have any drivers or updates for DCR-HC36 camcorder and the mac/iMovie 08. They suggested that my FireWire 800 cable may be the issue.
I just spent 2 hours with a Genius at the Apple Store. Turns out that my FireWire 800 cable did seem to be causing problems. Using a FireWire 400, the camcorder and mac were continuously able to recognize each other. However, we discovered that with the FireWire 400 cable iMovie 08 crashed while importing the video and had to "unexpectedly close".
I had to leave, but they said to look through forums and discussion boards for any patches or fixes. I'm curious to know if anyone had this happen with older versions of iMovie as the Sony support mentioned they didn't have any support iMovie 08 - but didn't mention anything about previous versions.
Obviously, I'd like to not have to buy a new camcorder as I just purchased this one. So, helpful and detailed replies are greatly appreciated.
Thanks!!