Are There Different Types of Firewires?

Question

I have 2 fire wires and both of them don't fit into my video camera and a firewire is supposed to fit. How can I find the right one to fit my camera? The ire looks like it would fit et it doesn't it seems to be too big. Anyone know if it's the camera or I need a different wire.

Answer 1

Yes... first, there are two different speeds - Firewire 400 and Firewire 800. For transferring DV from a miniDV camcorder to a computer, you want firewire 400.

Within Firewire400, there are two types of connectors. 4-pin and 6-pin. Yes, you can have a 4-pin to 4-pin cable; 4-pin to 6-pin cable and 6-pin to 6-pin cable.

The DV port on a miniDV camcorder is ALWAYS 4-pin. The firewire400 port on a computer can be 4-pin or 6-pin.

The wikipedia link below has some pictures of the the connectors/ports. I hope you are not confusing miniUSB with DV - it is easy to do, but they are very different - and the camcorder manufacturers don't normally include the firewire cable in the box.

Many traditional Windows based PCs do not have a 1394 port - but adding one is easy (and cheap) - if the computer has an available expansion slot. Firewire 400 ports have been standard on Macintoshes for nearly 10 years (the only exception is the new MacBook Air).

Since you did not tell us what camcorder or what computer you are using, we have no way to help beyond this.

Answer 2

If you can list your exact camcorder model (normally on the bottom of your camera) and the exact computer model (normally on near the power button on both desktops and laptops), then we can tell you the exact cable and technique you need.