Digital video cable problems

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

Hiya,

I am a bit confused, and as I am abroad it is hard to find anyone to
ask (given that my communication skills are not that sophisticated).

I bought in England a digital video camera. A Canon MV 700 i. I want
to connect it to my laptop which runs XP and has video editing
software.

I thought I needed a firewire cable, a firewire card for computer, and
suitable software.

The shop when I bought the camera ~(right before going abroad – which
was silly) told me that I didn't need a firewire cable as my laptop
had a fast USB connection (USB2??) and therefore I could use a DV
cable and did not need a firewire cable. (I was not convinced, and
reluctant to be left abroad with the wrong connection, and made them
check it with the manager, and the specification list.) And I was
slightly confused, are firewire and DV cables the same thing or
totally different? Having unpacked and tried the camera out the DV
cable I was sold is not the right fit to connect the camera.

Can any one help me with the name of specification of the cable that I
do need? The DV female part of the camera is rectangular, with an
indent in one side, and holes for four pins. The DV wire I was sold is
semi circular, with an indent.

Do I need a fire wire cable? Will that mean I need new software? It
has occurred to me that I probably can't install a firewire card in my
laptop, as presumably you can't just put the card in like you can in a
normal computer?

Does anyone know what cable I need? Presumably DV to fit camera at one
end and fast USB2 at the other end. Can I order it online, perhaps
from Amazon UK? And pay extra to have it delivered to Europe?

Any help deeply appreciated

Many thanks

Pip

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

I'm not aware of any camcorder than can transfer high-quality video via USB.
The standard for DV is firewire. Period.

Get a PCM card for your laptop, and a firewire/1394 cable with the
appropriate connectors, most like 4-pin on each side.

"wingedhorse" <wingedhorse99@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:f0ed90c4.0503311224.2508062f@posting.google.com...
> Hiya,
>
> I am a bit confused, and as I am abroad it is hard to find anyone to
> ask (given that my communication skills are not that sophisticated).
>
> I bought in England a digital video camera. A Canon MV 700 i. I want
> to connect it to my laptop which runs XP and has video editing
> software.
>
> I thought I needed a firewire cable, a firewire card for computer, and
> suitable software.
>
> The shop when I bought the camera ~(right before going abroad - which
> was silly) told me that I didn't need a firewire cable as my laptop
> had a fast USB connection (USB2??) and therefore I could use a DV
> cable and did not need a firewire cable. (I was not convinced, and
> reluctant to be left abroad with the wrong connection, and made them
> check it with the manager, and the specification list.) And I was
> slightly confused, are firewire and DV cables the same thing or
> totally different? Having unpacked and tried the camera out the DV
> cable I was sold is not the right fit to connect the camera.
>
> Can any one help me with the name of specification of the cable that I
> do need? The DV female part of the camera is rectangular, with an
> indent in one side, and holes for four pins. The DV wire I was sold is
> semi circular, with an indent.
>
> Do I need a fire wire cable? Will that mean I need new software? It
> has occurred to me that I probably can't install a firewire card in my
> laptop, as presumably you can't just put the card in like you can in a
> normal computer?
>
> Does anyone know what cable I need? Presumably DV to fit camera at one
> end and fast USB2 at the other end. Can I order it online, perhaps
> from Amazon UK? And pay extra to have it delivered to Europe?
>
> Any help deeply appreciated
>
> Many thanks
>
> Pip

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

Pip,

You were right to be suspicious of the store clerks statement that a USB2
port would do what you wanted.

USB2, while having the *theoretical* bandwidth you need is NOT what you want
to use if you have a Firewire equipped camera. The Canon MV 700 has a
Firewire port.

"The difference between reality and theory is, In theory, there's no
difference between the two."

An IEEE-1394 port (aka: "iLink", "Firewire," "DV") is what you want.



HARDWARE:

Does you laptop already have a firewire port? It would likely be identical
to the small, female port on the camera.
That's a mini-4 pin IEEE-1394 connection. I have one of these on my laptop
and use a 4-4 mini-plug firewire cable to connect the two.

If you don't have a firewire port already on your laptop, do as the other
poster mentioned and get yourself a cardbus (PCMCIA - "people can't memorize
computer industry acronyms") card with one or more firewire ports.

http://tinyurl.com/69abj is the ADS Pyrolink Cardbus card. It has a dongle
so you can leave it inserted all the time and just take the dongle off.
Others will have a protruding "block" - it's all personal preference.



SOFTWARE:

If you're running WinXP, you already have what you need: Windows Movie Maker
2. If you can't locate this, visit the MS site and search on it. It's
downloadable for free and is part of SP2. If you outgrow that, there are
plenty of threads in this newsgroup discussing the merits of other available
tools. Download some free trials and try them all. My vote is for Adobe
Premiere Elements (or Premiere Pro if you're a control freak)

Hope this helps!

Chris


"wingedhorse" <wingedhorse99@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:f0ed90c4.0503311224.2508062f@posting.google.com...
> Hiya,
>
> I am a bit confused, and as I am abroad it is hard to find anyone to
> ask (given that my communication skills are not that sophisticated).
>
> I bought in England a digital video camera. A Canon MV 700 i. I want
> to connect it to my laptop which runs XP and has video editing
> software.
>
> I thought I needed a firewire cable, a firewire card for computer, and
> suitable software.
>
> The shop when I bought the camera ~(right before going abroad - which
> was silly) told me that I didn't need a firewire cable as my laptop
> had a fast USB connection (USB2??) and therefore I could use a DV
> cable and did not need a firewire cable. (I was not convinced, and
> reluctant to be left abroad with the wrong connection, and made them
> check it with the manager, and the specification list.) And I was
> slightly confused, are firewire and DV cables the same thing or
> totally different? Having unpacked and tried the camera out the DV
> cable I was sold is not the right fit to connect the camera.
>
> Can any one help me with the name of specification of the cable that I
> do need? The DV female part of the camera is rectangular, with an
> indent in one side, and holes for four pins. The DV wire I was sold is
> semi circular, with an indent.
>
> Do I need a fire wire cable? Will that mean I need new software? It
> has occurred to me that I probably can't install a firewire card in my
> laptop, as presumably you can't just put the card in like you can in a
> normal computer?
>
> Does anyone know what cable I need? Presumably DV to fit camera at one
> end and fast USB2 at the other end. Can I order it online, perhaps
> from Amazon UK? And pay extra to have it delivered to Europe?
>
> Any help deeply appreciated
>
> Many thanks
>
> Pip

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

"wingedhorse" <wingedhorse99@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:f0ed90c4.0503311224.2508062f@posting.google.com...
> Hiya,
>
> I am a bit confused, and as I am abroad it is hard to find anyone to
> ask (given that my communication skills are not that sophisticated).
>
> I bought in England a digital video camera. A Canon MV 700 i. I want
> to connect it to my laptop which runs XP and has video editing
> software.
>
> I thought I needed a firewire cable, a firewire card for computer, and
> suitable software.
>
> The shop when I bought the camera ~(right before going abroad - which
> was silly) told me that I didn't need a firewire cable as my laptop
> had a fast USB connection (USB2??) and therefore I could use a DV
> cable and did not need a firewire cable. (I was not convinced, and
> reluctant to be left abroad with the wrong connection, and made them
> check it with the manager, and the specification list.) And I was
> slightly confused, are firewire and DV cables the same thing or
> totally different? Having unpacked and tried the camera out the DV
> cable I was sold is not the right fit to connect the camera.
>
> Can any one help me with the name of specification of the cable that I
> do need? The DV female part of the camera is rectangular, with an
> indent in one side, and holes for four pins. The DV wire I was sold is
> semi circular, with an indent.
>
> Do I need a fire wire cable? Will that mean I need new software? It
> has occurred to me that I probably can't install a firewire card in my
> laptop, as presumably you can't just put the card in like you can in a
> normal computer?
>
> Does anyone know what cable I need? Presumably DV to fit camera at one
> end and fast USB2 at the other end. Can I order it online, perhaps
> from Amazon UK? And pay extra to have it delivered to Europe?
>
> Any help deeply appreciated
>
> Many thanks
>
> Pip

My recommendation would be a firewire cable and a PCMCIA adapter with a
firewire port.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000ATCFP/qid=1112301588/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_1_4/202-2700300-0732616

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000YQ3P2/qid=1112301678/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_3_1/202-2700300-0732616

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

Simple device for both USB and Firewire for laptop
http://www.adstech.com/products/DLX181/intro/DLX181intro.asp?pid=DLX181

"wingedhorse" <wingedhorse99@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:f0ed90c4.0503311224.2508062f@posting.google.com...
> Hiya,
>
> I am a bit confused, and as I am abroad it is hard to find anyone to
> ask (given that my communication skills are not that sophisticated).
>
> I bought in England a digital video camera. A Canon MV 700 i. I want
> to connect it to my laptop which runs XP and has video editing
> software.
>
> I thought I needed a firewire cable, a firewire card for computer, and
> suitable software.
>
> The shop when I bought the camera ~(right before going abroad - which
> was silly) told me that I didn't need a firewire cable as my laptop
> had a fast USB connection (USB2??) and therefore I could use a DV
> cable and did not need a firewire cable. (I was not convinced, and
> reluctant to be left abroad with the wrong connection, and made them
> check it with the manager, and the specification list.) And I was
> slightly confused, are firewire and DV cables the same thing or
> totally different? Having unpacked and tried the camera out the DV
> cable I was sold is not the right fit to connect the camera.
>
> Can any one help me with the name of specification of the cable that I
> do need? The DV female part of the camera is rectangular, with an
> indent in one side, and holes for four pins. The DV wire I was sold is
> semi circular, with an indent.
>
> Do I need a fire wire cable? Will that mean I need new software? It
> has occurred to me that I probably can't install a firewire card in my
> laptop, as presumably you can't just put the card in like you can in a
> normal computer?
>
> Does anyone know what cable I need? Presumably DV to fit camera at one
> end and fast USB2 at the other end. Can I order it online, perhaps
> from Amazon UK? And pay extra to have it delivered to Europe?
>
> Any help deeply appreciated
>
> Many thanks
>
> Pip

 

[danr]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

Yes, get a PC card firewire adaptor. They are cheap. Only drawback is it sticks
out so you need to remove it when it's not in use. They are plug and play. Make
sure you have the correct cable that plugs into your camera and the FW port.
It's a pretty standared cable but make sure.
wingedhorse wrote:
> Hiya,
>
> I am a bit confused, and as I am abroad it is hard to find anyone to
> ask (given that my communication skills are not that sophisticated).
>
> I bought in England a digital video camera. A Canon MV 700 i. I want
> to connect it to my laptop which runs XP and has video editing
> software.
>
> I thought I needed a firewire cable, a firewire card for computer, and
> suitable software.
>
> The shop when I bought the camera ~(right before going abroad - which
> was silly) told me that I didn't need a firewire cable as my laptop
> had a fast USB connection (USB2??) and therefore I could use a DV
> cable and did not need a firewire cable. (I was not convinced, and
> reluctant to be left abroad with the wrong connection, and made them
> check it with the manager, and the specification list.) And I was
> slightly confused, are firewire and DV cables the same thing or
> totally different? Having unpacked and tried the camera out the DV
> cable I was sold is not the right fit to connect the camera.
>
> Can any one help me with the name of specification of the cable that I
> do need? The DV female part of the camera is rectangular, with an
> indent in one side, and holes for four pins. The DV wire I was sold is
> semi circular, with an indent.
>
> Do I need a fire wire cable? Will that mean I need new software? It
> has occurred to me that I probably can't install a firewire card in my
> laptop, as presumably you can't just put the card in like you can in a
> normal computer?
>
> Does anyone know what cable I need? Presumably DV to fit camera at one
> end and fast USB2 at the other end. Can I order it online, perhaps
> from Amazon UK? And pay extra to have it delivered to Europe?
>
> Any help deeply appreciated
>
> Many thanks
>
> Pip

Yes, get a PC card fire wire adaptor. They are cheap. Only drawback is it sticks
out so you need to remove it when it's not in use. They are plug and play. Make
sure you have the correct cable that plugs into your camera and the FW port.
It's a pretty standard cable but make sure.