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Firewire 400 to Thunderbolt 3

This was asked and answered in late 2019, thread closed, don't 100% understand. Helpful answer but needing more detail.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250919857

I have an old Canon digital tape camera and want to upload its video to my 2018 Mac Mini, presumably to a Thunderbolt 3 port.

The vidcam video-output cable connectors look like this:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FireWire_cables.jpg

The small end connects to the camera which seems to leave a Firewire 400(?) end to somehow connect to the Mini.

So this product:

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MD464LL/A/apple-thunderbolt-to-firewire-adapter

won't work on its own.

It seems I might need a Firewire 400-to-800 adapter/cable as well(?).

(I also have a 2011 MacBook Air with a mini-DisplayPort.)

Is this even possible?


Thank you.


Posted on Apr 2, 2020 5:18 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Apr 2, 2020 5:30 AM

In order to use it with a 2018 Mini, there is going to be

a long string of dongles. Starting at the Mini you will

need a Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt adapter.

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MMEL2AM/A/thunderbolt-3-usb-c-to-thunderbolt-2-adapter?fnode=8b

You will then need to plug in your Thunderbolt to Firewire

adapter into that.

Then you need a 400-800 adapter similar to this:

https://www.amazon.com/elago-FireWire-Adapter-MacBook-Computers/dp/B003L4P872/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=firewire+400+to+800+adapter&qid=1585830507&sr=8-4


Or, you could update your camera to one that uses SD cards instead of tape.

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3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Apr 2, 2020 5:30 AM in response to ctlow

In order to use it with a 2018 Mini, there is going to be

a long string of dongles. Starting at the Mini you will

need a Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt adapter.

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MMEL2AM/A/thunderbolt-3-usb-c-to-thunderbolt-2-adapter?fnode=8b

You will then need to plug in your Thunderbolt to Firewire

adapter into that.

Then you need a 400-800 adapter similar to this:

https://www.amazon.com/elago-FireWire-Adapter-MacBook-Computers/dp/B003L4P872/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=firewire+400+to+800+adapter&qid=1585830507&sr=8-4


Or, you could update your camera to one that uses SD cards instead of tape.

Apr 2, 2020 7:11 AM in response to ctlow

Just the other day I tested my old Sony TRV320E with my Mac mini 2018, Mojave and iMovie HD 6.0.3:


Mac mini 2018 - Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter - Apple Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter - FireWire 800 9-pin to FireWire 400 4-pin cable - Sony TRV320E D8 camcorder (essentially miniDV with Hi8 tape).


I could import/export DV just fine except occasionally I had to disconnect/reconnect the cables or restart iMovie 6 HD because the Firewire connections seemed to freeze.


iMovie 6 HD can be installed to Mojave via Pacifist, and then updated to 6.0.3 (or maybe install 6.0.4) one of its package file must then be edited with a text editor so it runs on Mojave. Get Info > Run in low resolution fixes the freezed iMovie video display on import (the import is OK even without this fix).


...but in the end I used my old 2004 PowerBook G4 on Mac OS X 10.5.8 to convert old analog VHS-C tapes to .dv and used the new Mac mini 2018 to deinterlace & convert it to H.264 with MPEG Streamclip (the old PowerBook was way too slow for that encoding).


I have used those adapters also to connect my old Firewire HD docks to the Mac mini 2018 but eventually bought an OWC dual drive USB-C dock to reduce cable clutter. The Thunderbolt LG display also had a few second blackouts, possibly caused by the adapters.

Apr 3, 2020 7:01 AM in response to woodmeister50

Thanks, WM50. That's what I feared. I wonder if somehow I should use my old MacBook Air while it's still working.


It isn't a question of upgrading to newer ways of making videos ... I stopped using that ancient vidcam a decade ago. I just want to get the data off the tapes (plus I have a collection of analog tapes which I can run through it and then come out digital).


Once I get connected, if ever, then my problems aren't over, but I'll leave it at this for now.


Thanks again.

Firewire 400 to Thunderbolt 3

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