Is a mini DV camacrder cassette reusable?

Question

Just bought a camera with a Mini DV cassette can I record and rerecord on it? Also, how can I transfer videos on it to my PC?

Help..I'm a rookie

Answer 1

Technically, MiniDV tapes can be reused - but you will risk getting "drop outs"... That is, a couple of frames will just go away during playback. I have never re-used a tape in over 6 years and have never had dropout problems.

Your miniDV tape based camcorder has a DV port. you will connect this to your computer's firewire 400 port using a firewire cable. USB will not work.

If your computer does not have a firewire (IEEE1394, i.Link - all the same thing) port, install one. They are generally easy to install and cheap. The firewire cables are cheap too. If you are using a Macintosh, they have had firewire ports for 6+ years - the only exception is the new Mac Air.

When you connect the camcorder, it needs to be in "Play/Edit" mode. Using Microsoft MovieMaker, "Capture" the video. Using Apple iMovie, Import the video.