Getting Video off a canon to a computer?

Question

I have a Canon ZR70 and it records video to a MiniDV, I want to buy a firewire cable but is it even possible to just take the Camcorder plug it in Via firewire cable and get the video from the MiniDV to the computer. Oh by the way I do have a firewire slot on my laptop.

Answer 1

If you're asking if the camcorder appears as another removable disk, the answer's no.  You need to capture the video using the capture features of an editor such as Windows Movie Maker (which you've already got) or a dedicated capture app.  It's very simple though - plug in the camcorder, switch it to play and then do whatever the software needs.

Answer 2

You probably don't have a firewire port on your Laptop, but Your dv camcorder needs a firewire connection (ieee 1394) in order to download video, your laptop probably did not come with a firewire port, so you will have to buy one and install it, since most computers (except possibly brand new or mac ) don't come with a firewire port, your camcorder did not come with a firewire cord so you have to purchase a cord too. Your camcorder did come with a USB cord and that is used for downloading stills from your camcorder. Once you are able to download your video camera, you can use windows movie maker or any other photo editing software you might have.