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No Firewire on my macbook, how do I connect my camcorder?

I had an older macbook with firewire and I connected my HD Canon camcorder to import my videos. it was easy. using one cable from DV to Firewire.


Then I bought a newer macbook and it doesn't have firewire. All it has is two USB 2.0 ports and this crappy Mini Displayport which I think only serves as a video output (not a video input). So how screwed am I?


is there a cable out there that can transfer video and audio from a HD camcorder (camcorder outputs DV, HDV, HDMI, Component A/V out) to my macbook's USB port? or maybe through the mini displayport?


All I want to do is import video I took in Thailand from my camcorder to my macbook. this isn't rocket science, right?

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.6.8), 2010 Macbook with no Firewire

Posted on Jul 22, 2012 10:22 AM

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Posted on Jul 26, 2012 3:36 PM

You definitely cannot use the mini display port, as it is output only. Your only option on your new macbook is the USB port.


Is your camcorder miniDV or something else? Does it record to tape or SD card? If it is a real HD camcorder, then it should be recording as a digital file (.mts or something like that) If your camcorder allows a PC connection (mass storage mode) you can just download the files using the USB connection.

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Jul 26, 2012 3:36 PM in response to cwightma

You definitely cannot use the mini display port, as it is output only. Your only option on your new macbook is the USB port.


Is your camcorder miniDV or something else? Does it record to tape or SD card? If it is a real HD camcorder, then it should be recording as a digital file (.mts or something like that) If your camcorder allows a PC connection (mass storage mode) you can just download the files using the USB connection.

Jul 27, 2012 7:46 AM in response to cwightma

What model is your camcorder?


HDV is a computer FILE, so if your camcorder has alternate input/output options you might be able to just COPY that file. This is camera specific.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDV#Distributing



HDMI to USB is a bit expensive, here's one solution.

http://www.elgato.com/elgato/na/mainmenu/products/capture-convert/GameCaptureHD. en.html


However, remember this:

  • When you take your miniDV and use a firewire connection, you are doing a data transfer.
  • When you take your miniDV and use a HDMI to USB, you are doing a file conversion + transfer, which is NOT lossless. (You are decoding the video and then re-compressing it.)

No Firewire on my macbook, how do I connect my camcorder?

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