Mini Dv Camera

[skate4flip]

Yesterday i bought a mini DV camera. The Canon Elura 80(was that a good choice??). I dont want a super expensive one (it was $500), just one capable of home movie and my parents trip to antarctica. It has a 1.33 megapixel so that seemed like a good quality for the price.

I am having one major problem though.

I did some taping and i cant connect to the camera to my computer. I have the Emachines T2958. The computer doesnt have a firewire port (yes it is a windows XP) so i cant connect the camera to my computer with the cable i bought today. Is there any i can connect my camera to the computer to put video on it using the firewire or am i SOL?

[James_Potter]

yep, thats how mine was too unfortunately...pretty annoying, right after you buy it you need to buy something ELSE. so yeah, you need to buy a new port. go to Office Depot or some similar store, and ask for a Firewire port. it looks rather intimidating, and whats more intimidating is the fact that you need to open the computer. its intimidating anyway to someone like me, who knows nothing about that stuff. but follow the directions that come with it and its really quite easy to figure out. but you might want to get someone who knows something about computers to help you.

[RichVoice]

I imagine you'd have a slow transfer speed, but is there an option to connect the camera using a USB port? (Note: I'm a computer nerd, but I'm not really familiar with video recording devices or transfer of data.)

[skate4flip]

you can connect to the USB but you can only upload pictures that way. The camera takes video and stills. You need the usb for pictures and firewire for video.

[LikeableRodent]

DV is only transferred via firewire. USB will be of no help for you.

You need to go out and purchase a PCI Firewire card, which will require you to open up your computer. While doing internal instalations may be intimidating to someone who's never done it before, installing a PCI card isn't that hard at all.

[RichVoice]

Well, now I've learned something too!

I'd agree with the comments about installing a PCI card: a little intimidating at first, but very easy. The last couple of times I installed memory and a PCI card my thought wasn't, "I don't know if I can do this," it was, "great, it's going to take me 30 minutes of disconnecting and reconnecting cables and removing and replacing the cover just for 2 minutes of installing the new stuff."

Rich

[Racenut]

Originally Posted by LikeableRodent

DV is only transferred via firewire. USB will be of no help for you.

You need to go out and purchase a PCI Firewire card, which will require you to open up your computer. While doing internal instalations may be intimidating to someone who's never done it before, installing a PCI card isn't that hard at all.

What he said.. though I would add.. when you install the card, try to handle it by the edges, and make sure you touch the metal of the computer case before you start to minimize the risk of static discharge. Also, don't wear a wool sweater or something similar while you do it.

Also, PCI slots/cards can sometimes be a little stubborn. Don't force it in the slot, but they do sometimes require firm pressure to get them to drop all the way in. I don't know how many times someone has tried to do it themselves only to bring it to me claiming something must be wrong.. it won't go in.. And they were just just pushing hard enough as they were affraid of breaking something.

Some of this might be covered in the manual for the card.. but if you're like me, you're more likely to read this than the manual

Have fun with the camera.. I just got one for Christmas as well. It's sooo nice to be able easily get video on the computer and no quality loss. I got a JVC GR-DF550U and so far really like it.