Camcorder tape to Computer?

Question

I have a Sony camcorder that is about 5 years old. It only has the S video output, A/V output and RFU DC output. I am trying to connect it to either my laptop which only has USB ports and a HDMI input or to my desktop. Althought both of my computers are less than a year old, there are no other inputs (except for the ethernet input on the desktop).

So I am really confused b/c all of the support online talks about a firewall connection which my camcorder does not have nor does my computer (I don't think). How can I connect them? Is there a cable I can buy?

Would it be possible to somehow connect my camcorder to my DVD player with the red/white/yellow cables then connect the DVD player to my Computer using the HDMI?

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Answer 1

The support documents you're looking at has a "Firewire" connection not a firewall. Firewire or IEEE 1394 supports 200, 400 or 800Mb/s connection rate depending on the exact implementation of the firewire standards, but if your camcorder isn't designed for output over firewire then that's not an option for you.

With the output options you've supplied it sounds like your best bet would be to pick up a TV-Tuner card, usually fairly cheap at your local tech shop, not your big box stores.

I unforunately can't find anything that would be capable of converting one of output methods to firewires.

While using a TV-Tuner card would work depending on the card you may end up only with Analog video and not Digital for your efforts. Your other option to keep a digital stream would be to use a digitizer hardware, or wire it through another camera that does support firewire/digital footage as described on this board discussion: http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messa...

Answer 2

If your camcorder records analog video, you need an "Analog/Digital bridge" to connect the camcorder to your computer.

http://www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSite/us...

or

http://www.canopus.com/products/videocon...

MiniDV tape and certain hard drive camcorders use Firewire/IEEE1394a/DV/i.Link for transfer - but they are digital camcorders. Firewall - in the computer world is a network security item and unrelated to video transfer.

It is impossible to know what your camcorder has or can do without knowing the manufacturer or model number.