How do I capture video from a Panasonic NV-GS25 on a Mac?

Question

I just bought this make after being told that it will be compatible with my digital video camera but when I plug it in, it won't even recognize that it is there. Is there something I can download to make it work? All I wan to do is capture it. Thanks!

Answer 1

The NV-GS25 is a miniDV tape based camcorder. ALL miniDV tape based camcorders transfer vide the same way... using a firewire cable. This is the same for Mac and traditional Windows PCs. Panasonic did not include a firewire cable in the box.

In your case, you need a 4-pin to 6-pin firewire cable. The 4-pin side connects to the camcorder's DV port; the 6-pin side connects to the firewire400 port on your Mac. ALL Macs made in the last 10 years or so have a firewire 400 port. The only exception is the new MacBook Air - it does not have a firewire port.

Firewire, IEEE1394a, DV and i.LINK are all the same thing.

Since you did not tell us which Mac you have, it is difficult to help you much further - like locating the firewire port - but it will be near all the other ports... USB will not work because iMovie will not recognize DV coming in through USB.

You also want to connect the AC power adapter to the camcorder. NEVER connect the USB cable and the firewire cable to the camcorder and the computer at the same time. Connect ONLY the firewire cable or ONLY the USB cable - but NOT both.

The firewire port in the Mac also need to be active; System Preferences: Network: Port Configurations... there needs to be a checkmark in the firewire box. Typically, the default is active - but this was just in case...

Anyway, once AC power is connected to the camcorder and firewire cable has connected the camcorder to your Mac (remember, NO USB), you need to put the camcorder in VCR or Play mode. Launch iMovie. After you name the file and select DV (I think... I select HDV 1080i because that is what my camcorders can do, you won't even see this selection), the blue screen should appear and show "Camcorder connected"... rewind the tape if needed, then click "Import".

The "NV" in your camcorder's part number tells me you are not in North America (it would be PV), so be sure the PAL equivalent items are appropriately selected. I don't know why Panasonic picked this naming - makes no sense to me, either.

Good luck!