What is a DV jack on a camcorder for? Is there a DV cable to go with it?

Question

I have never had a mini DV camcorder, so I am still an amateur. If there is a DV cable, can it hook up to the computer?

Answer 1

The dv cable is for the firewire cable that didn't come with your camcorder.

If you have a mini dv (cassette) camcorder….

Your dv camcorder needs a firewire connection (ieee 1394) in order to download video, your PC probably did not come with a firewire port, so you will have to buy one and install it, since most computers (except possibly brand new) don't come with a firewire port, your camcorder did not come with a firewire cord so you have to purchase a cord too. Your camcorder did come with a USB cord and that is used for downloading stills from your camcorder. Make sure your camera is in playback mode.

Answer 2

kylestudent2003 nearly got it correct...

The DV port is indeed the camcorder side of the firewire cable - but a DV cable - also known as firewire, IEEE1394a and i.Link - will NOT plug into USB.

Firewire to USB converters will not work for transferring miniDV tape based video, either. You need to plug the other side of the firewire cable (remember, one side is already in the DV port of the camcorder) into the Firewire400 port on your computer.

If your computer does not have a firewire port, additng one is typically easy - and they are cheap. If you have a Macintosh that is as old as 6-7 years, it probably already has a firewire port - so all you need is the 4-pin to 6-in firewire cable.

Generally speaking, the manufacturers have not been including the Firewire cable in the box... It's a pain, but you need to go buy it separately. Typically, in the manual, it refers to that "DV" (or i.Link or Firewire) cable as optional or commercially available.

USB will not transfer DV format video from the camcorder's miniDV tape. (It *might* transfer video - but it will be very compressed - so it will not be DV format.)

Answer 3

The DV jack on a camcorder is actually a firewire interface that allows high data speeds to your computer. Usually the one on the camcorder is the 4-pin firewire. It can be plugged into a USB or a Firewire cable in your computer. This port is the best one to use when going from camcorder to computer.