I am trying to connect my Canon Optura 20 miniDV camcorder to my recently purchased imac to get the movies on the miniDV tapes into imovie. I have had no luck with the computer recognizing my camera using a usb connection. Also, there is no firewire connection available to connect it that way to transfer the data.
iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8)
The camera might have a Firewire connection but the imac does not have a port for that. There are several usb and a couple others but nothing that resembles the look of a Firewire connection. Any other thoughts?
Okay, with your assistance I have narrowed down that I do have a firewire port although it is different from the firewire cable that I happen to have. I need to go find a cable that resembles the size on my imac and then attempt to transfer the video from my camcorder. I sure hope it works.
P.S. - what does the level and points mean under your name? This is my first time using the apple support community for help and I thought that was interesting and was curious.
Hi,
Did you ever find out the name of the correct cable you need to connect from your Canon camcorder to the iMac?
I am having the same problem. I have a firewire cable that is a mini firewire on both ends just like the firewire port on the camcorder.
Thanks,
Rich
Hi. I don't have the name but the link below will show you the cable that looks like what I ended up buying online. When I purchased it, mine was $15.00 but only 3 feet long. You will see the firewire on one end that goes into the imac and then the other end goes into the spot on your canon camera that says DV below it. The conversion process was seamless and I was amazed that for only $15 I got many years of movies on my imac and they can be easily edited and burned to cd. Amazing. Certainly saved tons of money by not having to pay someone else to do it and potentially screw up my videos. I hope this helps you.
http://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-F019-006-Firewire-Hi-speed/dp/B000AAZQM2/ref=pd _sim_p_11
As another note, please be sure that you look closely at what the cable ends look like when you find the one that you want to purchase. I noticed that the firewire connection on the back of my imac looks like a U sort of and the cable ends look similar but you just have to feel confident it is a match when ordering so you don't have to deal with returns, etc. Let me know if you find what you need.
The camera has a Firewire connection and that is the only way to import DV into any version of iMovie.
We receive "points" when posters mark our answers as "correct" or "helpful". As we gather more points we move up in levels (1 though 10).
Very cool.
It's the only real motivational tool the Apple Discussion boards have as we all volunteer our time and effort to help out fellow Macintosh/iDevice owners be productive.
optura 20 and importing miniDV movie
