Importing video from a mini DVD camcorder that outputs through a cable with 3 X RCA sockets.

Ok, so mini DV is digital, but by outputting through these rca plugs you are converting to analog.

To keep the original source in digital format (DV), you need to output via the camera Firewire output.

To get this into a current mac with Thunderbolt 3 or 4, you need three pieces:

1) A Firewire cable (4-pin on the camera side, 9-pin “Firewire 800” on the other side)

2) A Thinderbolt 2-Firewire adapter

3) A Thunderbolt 3-Thunderbolt 2 adapter

Check Amazon for ClearClick products. I recently bought the "Video to Digital Converter 3.0 (Third Generation)" model ($200) but if you don't want the bigger screen or any screen you can spend less. It's super-simple and you can use it to review tapes and even view the USB files or output HDMI to a TV without getting a computer involved.

I've painlessly digitized about twenty VHS tapes so far and expect to use it for 8mm, Hi-8, Digital-8, and Mini-DV tapes, presuming my camcorders still work okay. It converts from RCA or S-Video to mp4 files on USB stick or chip at about 2GB per hour. (I have enough gear and connectors here that I could probably connect the digital outputs from my digital cameras but I've heard there are difficulties with capturing their digital video on the latest versions of MacOS.) Given my lack of concern about viewing the old tapes so far, I expect the RCA->USB conversions' quality to be just fine.

User notes: I did set it to capture 640x480 to preserve the 4:3 aspect ratio. Final Cut will expect your Project to be 720p and you can ignore any gripes about the mp4 being non-standard. Of course the output has black bars at the sides and it's easy to share with family and friends on YouTube and elsewhere.

If the only way to output (analogue) video is via the RCA cables you will need to get a digitiser from Amazon.

I have never used one so cannot comment on the quality but they are cheap . . . anything from £10 upwards!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=video+digitiser&crid=2LVS7VN0V4URW&sprefix=video+digitiser%2Caps%2C81&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

You mention "mini DVD camcorder" and also " DVD mini tapes".

Would be good if you could clarify what media you are recording to.

Is it possible that you mean "mini DV tapes".? If yes, then they are already in digital format.

If it is tapes, then what does it say on the tape cassette itself or the cassette case?

To help identify the recording media and format of your camcorder what is the model number of your JVC camcorder?

Judging from a manual that I found online, the Firewire port is on the opposite side. There should be a small cover, maybe rubber or plastic, near the front of camera, on the right.

That's the analog output. From what I can find your camera has an IEEE 1394 FireWire output. I don't see it in that imagine but it's supposed to be there somewhere. You need a FireWire cable and adapters from the FW output.

That is anslog video.

You need a device to convert analog video to digital.

What is your mac and which version of macOS?

Ian is absolutely right about the output from the mini jack and the need for a digitiser

The one I talked about is Firewire, it is a different output from the camera.

Just to add a bit of confusion . . . I don't know this JVC model but back in 2000 I bought my first digital camcorder, a Panasonic DS8.

In those days, the UK had a strange attitude to digital camcorders. They considered them to be "recorders" and as such added a tremendous amount of VAT which could amount to hundreds of pounds.

To get round this, the manufacturers disabled the digital output of the camcorder so it could only send out analogue signals.

If you wanted to output digital you had to buy a third party gizmo to hack the electronics to re-enable the digital side of things.

I seem to recollect paying around £70 for such a device that I plugged into the camera once, for a few seconds and never used again!

Just wondering whether the OP has a camera with the DV output disabled.

I found this info about the camera which seems to be from July 2000 which is around the time I got mine.

https://www.videomaker.com/article/c5/7704-jvc-gr-camcorder-review-jvc-gr-dvl9800-mini-dv-camcorder/

It's quite possible that the DV output was never enabled by the purchaser in the UK.

Interesting point about the taxation of digital cameras in the early 2000’s.

Here in Portugal this only applied to Input TO the camera, not for output.

I had s Sony Digital 8 camcorder back then and it could output digitally via iLink (Sony’s name for Firewire). I actually bought a gizmo to be able to record back to tape from my mac.