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June, 2025

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Log/transfer of MiniDV in 2018

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VT_scratch
Posts: 8862 - Karma: 6,825
A client wants me to shoot with my old mini dv cam for a portion of an upcoming project. The years of me owning a pc with a firewire port are long gone.

I have a late 2015 iMac 27". It has USB ports and 2 thunderbolt ports.

What is the easiest solution for me to transfer the media from my camcorder when the time comes?

I am reading mixed reviews about the firewire 4 to usb adapters and many say it has not worked with their pc (haven't seen anyone who's tried it with a mac yet).

I know there are a handful of you who are still die hard minidv and camcorder fans, what has been you setup of choice for transferring your media?

thanks
7 years ago
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saucemastrscotty
Posts: 140 - Karma: 786
I'm having the same problem u are, I have a ton of clips on dv tapes but can't get them on to my laptop. I bought the exact cord from that picture and it didn't even show up in my dv capture program or my computer. If anyone has a solution it'd be great I'm considering getting a camera that records to sd cards since tapes are such a bitch to use.
7 years ago
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Static
Posts: 8598 - Karma: 3,972
You pay someone else to digitize the footage and pass along the cost. There are lots companies that offer that exact service to people for all their old home movies.

Or you shoot with your regular camera and go for an SD look in post.
7 years ago
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saucemastrscotty
Posts: 140 - Karma: 786
Could u give an example or link to a company that does this?
7 years ago
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Static
Posts: 8598 - Karma: 3,972
I sure could.
7 years ago
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saucemastrscotty
Posts: 140 - Karma: 786
Can u post it then
7 years ago
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mattytru
Posts: 2789 - Karma: 5,632
FYI, the usb/firewire conversion cords dont work because the USB and firewire protocols differ in how they transfer information. firewire provides a continuous stream of data, whereas USB sends 'packets' of data. thus you cannot use USB in an operation like capturing which requires constant information transfer
7 years ago
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