Digital video onto laptop - RCA a/v to firewire, mini HDMI to firewire, or analog video capture cards?

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Rock5

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May 10, 2014
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Hi,
I'm using the Finepix s4500 to shoot digital video. It only has two outs - a micro USB to RCA a/v (or to USB 2.0), and a mini HDMI.
I want to connect my camcorder to my laptop while I'm shooting video so I can use the laptop's screen to see what I'm filming and I want to save the video directly to the laptop's hard drive. I want to get the highest possible quality of video. The camcorder is HD (720p). Should I use the RCA a/v out from the camcorder and use an adapter cable to plug that into the laptop's firewire port, or would I get higher resolution by using the mini HDMI out from the camcorder and plugging it into the laptop's firewire port with an adapter cable? I assume using a USB 2.0 would be worse than the above two options. I guess analog video capture cards are yet another option and I don't know what kind of cords I would need for that. Can you explain what makes the best option technically better? I want to do it while I'm shooting the video. Not after it has been saved onto the camera's memory. The camera's memory compresses the video. But if I record directly onto my laptop's hard drive while I'm filming, there's no compression, so the result will be higher quality.
 
Solution
Video capture card is your only solution unless you get a different camera. I don't think there is an HDMI to firewire converter that is cheap enough to use unless you are a pro.
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