I need help with the Canon ZR 950?

Question

I bought the Canon ZR 950 and I was recording stuff with the tape. (not with the memory card) Now I want to get the stuff I recorded on the tape onto my computer. So I bought the Dazzle to transfer on to the computer, but it doesn't work at all. Do I need to buy a memory card to make it work or is there something wrong I'm doing?

Answer 1

That is a good question, and luckily, the answer is very simple. You do NOT need a memory card, and you do NOT need the Dazzle Fusion device. All you need is something called a firewire (IEEE 1394) cable, sometimes called iLink for about $20 at pretty much any electronics store. The Canon ZR950 is a Digital camcorder that records on MiniDV cassette tapes. It is compatible with any computer via the firewire cable (just make sure your camcorder has a firewire port in the back; that should not be a problem, as most computers that are relatively new have them. All you have to do is this: (take note that the order IS important)

  1) connect the coputer to the firewire cable

   2) connect the firewire port to the camcorder, making sure the camcorder is OFF... the computer may be on; you do not want power running through the camcorder while power is already running through the firewire cable or it will short out the firewire cable and possibly your camcorder.

  3) turn the Camera ON to the VCR playback mode.

  4) Now, the computer should recognize that the camera is connected and a box will appear allowing you to launch an editing program, if not, just launch the program anyways and go to the capture menu. Then simply press the record button on the capture menu while the camera is playing; this will record your footage to your computer for editing.

The good thing about miniDV cameras is that they are pretty much universal with any editing program on the computer, including the default programs that come with the computer: Windows Movie Maker on PCs or iMovie on Macs. These programs are good for starters, but I recommend the following for better editing applications: Apple Final Cut Express, or Pinnacle Studio. Or for highly professional applications and high quality video processing, I recommend Adobe Premiere Pro, Apple Final Cut Pro (Macs only) and my favorite, Avid Media Composer. That's probably more than you wanted to know anyway....so Good Luck.