Whats the best way to transfer video to a computer?

Question

To transfer video from a video camera to a computer

Through firewire or usb?

Why is it better?

Answer 1

If you're recording to a disk or memory card you're just doing a file transfer, so you can only capture via USB.  If you've recorded a digital signal onto tape (i.e. Digital8, MiniDV, HDV) then you should use firewire.  USB 2 is slightly faster, but it can be interrupted if the CPU gets a higher priority task - meanwhile your tape carries on winding and the data gets lost.  Firewire has something called isochronous file transfer, which guarantees the necessary bandwidth will always be available.  It's also left to the firewire card and the camcorder to manage the data transfer - the CPU doesn't get the chance to s***w things up!

Some camcorders do have the option of transferring via USB, but the audio and video are often out of synch.