I have a sharp ViewcamZ camcorder that is 20 or so years old. I am trying to capture my old digital tapes onto my 2019 iMac. I followed the advice of numerous youtube videos and have gotten the appropriate connections done to properly hook up my camcorder to my iMac. The iMovie fails to recognize my camcorder as all the videos indicate it should. I just want a sure way to capture these old videos without any hassle. What is the best thing for me to do?
iMac 27", 10.14
Hi,
The Sharp ViewcamZ is not listed as a supported camera on Apple's website. However, most tape based camera's are supported even if they are not on the list. Yours is 20 years old, so possibly its legacy age could be problematic -- hard to tell without fiddling with it a bit to see if you can get it working.
To cover the bases, take a look at this help menu link that describes how to import from a tape based camera:
https://help.apple.com/imovie/mac/10.1/#/mov6af9c94c1
Make sure that you have the correct (firewire) cable and that the cable and/or any adapters are not defective. Sometimes non-Apple adapters can cause problems. Also, try getting the tape running and see if that will trigger recognition.
Alternatively, you can try importing into the Photos app and then accessing your video from the Photos item in the iMovie sidebar. That's the recommended way. Or, you can drag the clips directly from Photos into iMovie.
Another way is to use the Image Capture app in the Utilities folder on your Mac to import the clips to your desktop, and from there drag the into iMovie.
-- Rich
Hi,
The Sharp ViewcamZ is not listed as a supported camera on Apple's website. However, most tape based camera's are supported even if they are not on the list. Yours is 20 years old, so possibly its legacy age could be problematic -- hard to tell without fiddling with it a bit to see if you can get it working.
To cover the bases, take a look at this help menu link that describes how to import from a tape based camera:
https://help.apple.com/imovie/mac/10.1/#/mov6af9c94c1
Make sure that you have the correct (firewire) cable and that the cable and/or any adapters are not defective. Sometimes non-Apple adapters can cause problems. Also, try getting the tape running and see if that will trigger recognition.
Alternatively, you can try importing into the Photos app and then accessing your video from the Photos item in the iMovie sidebar. That's the recommended way. Or, you can drag the clips directly from Photos into iMovie.
Another way is to use the Image Capture app in the Utilities folder on your Mac to import the clips to your desktop, and from there drag the into iMovie.
-- Rich
You are welcome. Hopefully you'll be able to get it to work.
Another thing that you can try is to import into the QuickTimePlayer app. Sometimes that is easier than trying with iMovie. Click on the link below for directions.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201066
Of course, the main thing is to get the Mac to recognize the camera.
-- Rich
Thanks Rich! This gives me some new avenues to try.
Thanks for your suggestions!
You are very welcome. :)
-- Rich
MiniDV Video capture
