Help please with my sony handicam?

Question

I have a sony handycam and I know I have to set it to usb streaming for transfering my tape recordings to my pc to edit via moviemaker, however my big big problem is what do I do to transfer my recordings and photos from the memory card, I have tried usb, usb streaming and picbridge and nothing works, I am not sure what program I use either, I don't think its movie maker, I do have picture package if I can use that.

I have footage of my grandaughter on this memory card since she was a few months old, she is now 2 years old today and I found this site which seems like people get answers to their questions.

PS I also have read on this site something about another cable iee...........or something like that, I have a standard usb cable from my pc into my cam. I don't have any problem transferring video, although thru the usb cable it is much darker when it appears on the pc than what it is on the playback camera.

Answer 1

The other cable is "IEEE 1394," also known as "DV," "i.Link," and "Firewire."  All of those names mean exactly the same thing.

Can you use that kind of cable with your camcorder and computer?  There are 4-pin and 6-pin varieties, any type will work if you have ports for them.  I assume your camera might have i.Link (Sony's name for Firewire), because you talk about USB, implying that it's a digital camcorder.  But then again, you say it's a memory "card," and Firewire is more commonly used with MiniDV tape.

Still, if you have the option, go with Firewire whenever possible.

If USB is your only option, please give us a camcorder model number to help us out a bit.  I haven't used a Handycam since the Hi8 days, but perhaps I can help on the tech side.

Answer 2

My old Sony handycam had 2 positions for "play" one for movies and one for the stuff on the memory stick. When switched to the memory stick, the camera appeared as just another drive in Explorer and you would copy the photos as if it were just another USB thumb drive.

If that doesn't help, you could consider buying a USB memory card reader - they are about $10 at BigW/KMart/Tandy etc. Put your memory stick in one of those and it will definitely appear in Explorer!