Panasonic PV-GS35 camcorder won't connect?

That model should work fine (since I have never heard about anyone not being able to use Panasonic miniDV cameras with iMovie).

iMovie: Cannot See or Control Camera
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=43000

I have the PV-GS65 and my powerbook running 10.4.3 with iMovie 3.0.3 does not see my camcorder either. I would love to know if I can download a free update to iMovie that would allow it to see my camcorder. My XP machine saw it fine and allowed me to pull the movie off without a problem. I do know iMovie HD will work but that is not cheap.

Eric, Welcome to the discussions.

It isn't clear whether or not you already tried everything in article 43000 (see link above).

By the way, iMovie 3 is a piece of junk. iMovie 5 is much more stable and iDVD 5 gives you better encoding and supports external burners if you don't have a Superdrive. Yours for only $79.

Yea I haved tried everything from the article. The camcorder doesn't even show up as connect to the computer in the system profiler under firewire. iMovie 3 may be junk, but if I only want to get video from the camcorder and convert it to something without editing it much if at all then iMovie 3 would be fine for me. I don't see a reason to pay $79 just to get video from the camcorder. Now if I wanted to do some fancy editing then yeah, I would spend the money.

Yea I haved tried everything from the article. The camcorder doesn't even show up as connect to the computer in the system profiler under firewire.

Then I say that either
A) Your FW cable is broken
B) The FW port on the camera is broken
C) The FW port on the Mac is broken

Bring your camera and cable to your Apple reseller and try it out. If it works, it's your Mac. If it doesn't, try one of the store's cables. Still no go? Then it's the camera, otherwise it's the cable.

The FW cable is fine. I used it to transfer video to Windows XP and to a mac using iMovie HD. The camcorder also works since I have viewed the video on two computers now. The FW port on my Mac works also. I just connect a FW drive to it and it detected it fine. I could see files on the drive also. However the camcorder does not show up when I connect it. Any other suggestions? I think it just doesn't work with iMovie 3. iMovie HD must include some kind of drivers so the Mac can see it.

This is most puzzling...

I just connect a FW drive to it and it detected it fine.

OK, did you use the same port as the one you tested your camera with?

You really should be able to see the camera in System Profiler. If you don't, iMovie doesn't have a chance.

Did you try the camera without ANY other FW devices?

The FW cable is fine. I used it to transfer video to Windows XP and to a mac using iMovie HD.

It might be the way the cable is bent when you try to use it.

I used the same firewire port on my powerbook when I tested the FW drive as I did when I connect my camcorder. Also there was no other device connect to the firewire port when I connect my camcorder. I have tried to connect the camcorder to my powerbook several times and it has never seen it . I don't think the cable was bent in a weird way anytime I tried it. Do you know for a fact that a Panasonic PV-GS65 will be seen by OSX 10.4.3 with iMovie 3.0.3?

Let me put it this way: I have never heard of any Panasonic model miniDV camera that isn't compatible with Mac OS or iMovie (any version). And this has nothing to do with iMovie, really. If System profiler could see the camera, but not iMovie, THEN it would be an iMovie issue. Now that neither sees the camera, it's an OS or hardware issue.

It doesn't have to be a weird turn in the cable, just bent slightly to the left instead of right.

On some Mac models you can reset the FW ports. This usually clears seemingly dead FW ports, but it MIGHT help you even your port isn't "dead":
Turn the Mac off.
Unplug the power supply and (in your case) remove the battery.
Wait 15 minutes.
Put the battery back and connect the power supply.
Start the Mac and test.

I am at working on my powerbook at work now, so I cannot shut it down for 15min, but I will try to do that this weekend and see if that works. I hope the person who started this thread comes back and lets me know if theirs works or not. I will post back this weekend or Monday to let anyone who is reading this if it works.

The discussions will be down for most of the weekend, so it better be Monday then...

Gayle, "Changes are coming...", 12:09pm Nov 10, 2005 CDT

You may find these threads interesting:
catspaw, "Is the Panasonic PV-GS65 camcorder compatible?" #1, 03:52pm Oct 13, 2005 CDT
Julia Fisher, "Anyone use a Panasonic PV-GS65?" #3, 04:15pm Oct 13, 2005 CDT

Well I took the battery out of my powerbook and left it out for 30mins. My camcorder still doesn't show up in the system profiler. Any other suggestions?

I suppose you also unplugged the power adapter?

I'm beginning to run out of ideas. Or more correct: I am out of ideas. Sorry.

In this thread
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?forumID=858&threadID=231877
there is a very similar situation with a Sony camera.

Yeah I unplugged the power adapter. I quess it is just some kind of hardware/software bug. Maybe one of apples patches will fix it one day if it is a software bug. I will do most of my editing in windows anyway but for going on trips it would be nice to edit on my laptop. Thanks for all your help.