DV camera and Hard Drive Recording?

Question

Do I need DV tapes in order to record directly to my hard drive with firewire port and DV cable?

Answer 1

Is it a DIGITAL Or ANALOG Video Camera?

If it is Digital, you can just hook-up the camera via the FireWire  port and download the video.

If it is an Analog video camera you will need a video capture card installed in your computer (If you don't already have one) and hook-up the camera via the RCA Type connectors to the video card (the same connectors you hook-up to the T.V.) And you will also need some kind of  Analog to Digital Conversion Software. If you don't have a capture card you could get an Analog To Digital Converter.

Here's Some Links:  http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/...

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/...

AVOID USB Type transfer devices, they ARE Cheaper BUT,they are too slow for good video - the signal is compressed too much (Low Quality) or you get too many dropped frames Or a limited amount of video (Time) And/Or out-of -synch audio.

Good-Luck!!

Answer 2

You can't just connect a firewire drive to a consumer level camcorder - you need something like the Firestore and a high end camera.  I'm not sure, but I think the requirement to use tape is dependent on which camera you're using.