How do I capture videos without a firewire?

Question

I have a canon GL2 and the only way to transfer videos is apparently through firewire only. the problem is, i don't have a firewire port on my PC. So how do you transfer videos or capture videos from the camcorder if you lack a firewire port on the PC?

Answer 1

DV tape ad firewire were developed in parallel.  The best way (and usually the only way) to move DV video from tape is via Firewire.  If your computer was purchased in the past 3-5 years, it most likely has a firewire port.

Look on every side - especially the back of desktops and both the back and sides of laptops.  You will probably have only one port, and it is usually near the USB ports.

Firewire is also known as i.Link, IEEE 1394, and DV port, so look for a socket with those markings as well.  i.Link ports are often marked with the small letter i .  Firewire also comes in large and small connections.  Look for both.  If you need examples of what they look like, your Canon GL2 has a small 4-pin connector, and most Firewire external hard drives plug into the larger 6-pin connector.

If you truly do not have a Firewire port, you can add a Firewire card to your laptop or desktop for $50 or less.  This is the only viable option.  Your next best is to use a different computer with Firewire to capture the video to an external hard drive.  Once you have captured all your tapes, you can move the external drive from the other computer to yours.

That leads to another point.  It is recommended that you have at least 500gb of storage space for your video capture and editing.  If you do not already have the space, you can add it on with an second internal hard drive for a desktop or with an external hard drive on both desktops and laptops.  500gb external hard drives can now be found as low as $100.  If you only have a a couple of tapes to work on, you may be able to use a smaller amount of space such as 320gb or 250gb, but remember that you need to leave enough room for saving the new movie.

Answer 2

There are Firewire to USB 2.0 converters.  Also, if your camera has a TV-out plug,  you might want to thing about RGB to USB adapters.

Here's something like what I'm talking about:

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

I own a Dazzle DVD Recorder and it works fine with my WinXP machine, but not my Vista 64 bit machine, so make sure to look at compatibility also.

Answer 3

firewire cards are cheap and easy to install. best do it that way or go via usb. your cam should support it.

hope it helps!

Answer 4

Remember what was said about USB speed ;-)

RCA composite is an option but I wouldn't recommend it. There's potential for degradation when data changes hands (ex. digital --> analog --> digital).

If you don't already have a DVD recorder hookup then it's still cheaper and faster to go FireWire. If you can afford a $1,500 camcorder what's another $30 to get the most out of it?