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  1. Can anyone recommend a Mini DV camcorder which FOR SURE will be recognized by iOS 10 into FCP7 or FCPX?

    I have a 2012 Non-Retina MBP (I believe this is the most up-to-date model).

    I've tried 2 camcorders, a JVC and a Panasonic, and they were not recognized. Tried several computers and several Firewire cables too. All suck!

    Preferably, a JVC that dates from 2000-2007. I'll search for one on ebay.

    Thanks!
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  2. aBigMeanie aedipuss's Avatar
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    i believe the problem is with apple's firewire 800 not any minidv cam, they all work correctly.
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    "a lot of people are better dead" - prisoner KSC2-303
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  3. Member Cornucopia's Avatar
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    aedipuss is correct. From what all that I have read, Apple's implementation of Firewire 800 ports does NOT maintain compability with DV devices (all of which are Firewire400 devices).

    And I have YET (in ~5 years or so) to see a 400<->800 adapter that will make it work, either. Apple dropped the ball on this one.*

    Only option is to use a PC and/or to get a specifically Firewire400 adapter card (PCI, PCIe, etc).
    Or take it to a service that can ingest the DV for you and give you DV-MOV files on a HDD.

    Scott

    *Update: other threads have pointed me to links where Apple has fixed this problem with a few 400<->800 converters and a few 400/800<->Thunderbolt converters which DO seem to transfer DV correctly. Yay, way to listen to the customers, Apple!
    Last edited by Cornucopia; 10th Nov 2014 at 14:29.
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  4. Thanks guys, but I've even tried on older Mac Pro (desktop) which still had the proper Firewire port (400 I think it was; not sure). Didn't need any specialty cables. But neither camera registered. 3 guys who have imported before have tried, but none succeeded. My final conclusion was non-recognizable cameras.
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  5. aBigMeanie aedipuss's Avatar
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    oh well too bad. minidv cams work fine on pc firewire ports.
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    "a lot of people are better dead" - prisoner KSC2-303
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  6. Seems possible that the Firewire ports on the camcorders might be fried?.... If you've tried several PCs and several cables, then this has got to be favourite.

    As the other posters have said, Firewire 400 should work fine with DV camcorders.

    The Firewire connection hardware has a bad reputation for failure, if devices are connected 'hot' (with the power already switched on).

    Unlike USB or SD connectors, there is no pin offset to guarantee a predictable pin connection sequence....and that can cause the Firewire port chips to fry....
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  7. Originally Posted by pippas View Post
    Unlike USB or SD connectors, there is no pin offset to guarantee a predictable pin connection sequence....and that can cause the Firewire port chips to fry....
    in all my years working with Digital video from all sorts of DV cameras, i never once had a bad firewire connection on any camera, laptop or desktop pc, every firewire port was always nice and firm when plugging cables.

    the same cannot be said about USB cables and ports in laptops and computers.

    i have lost count how many busted and faulty USB ports i have seen on these machines, very common, and look at how floppy a male USB connector is when plugged into a female USB port, not one that i have used has ever been a firm fit, unless you plug the usb cable into a USB/eSata combo port, and that is the one i try to use if a laptop or PC had one, nice and firm, you could never break them.

    to this day, i still prefer the reliability of firewire over usb any day, unfortunately desktop computers (motherboards) and laptops dont have firewire any more, and that is sad i think for those who do prefer it.

    my son studies film & television at uni, and after shooting stuff on their DSLR cameras, they have to transfer their footage onto their own 500gb or 1tb usb3/firewire 800 combo external portable laptop drives to take to uni to edit all their camera footage from using the uni's Mac computers, and they have to use firewire 800 not usb3.

    i am taking delivery of a new 23" Dell 2330 AIO desktop pc on monday (3770s powered) and i wish it had firewire 800 on it as well, because i still do have clients call me wanting their old DV tapes transferred to pc and converted to mpeg2 streams, or converted to dvd, and i will now have to use my nv-gs400 camera connected to my dell 1735 laptop specifically for this purpose.

    cheers
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  8. Originally Posted by glenpinn View Post
    in all my years working with Digital video from all sorts of DV cameras, i never once had a bad firewire connection on any camera, laptop or desktop pc, every firewire port was always nice and firm when plugging cables.
    Glad to hear you've been lucky with your Firewire connections.
    My point has nothing to do with the 'firmness' of the connection. It has to do with the predictability in the order of pin connections.

    Many connectors have a deliberate physical pin 'offset', to ensure that certain pins are connected in known sequence.....

    In the case of 3 pin XLRs for example, pin1 (gnd) will always make connection first. In the case of SD or USB connectors, the DC pins will always connect first.


    In the case of Firewire there is no offset... you cannot be certain in which order the pins will make contact.
    Connecting them 'hot' (with power already applied) can cause the associated electronics to 'fry'.


    Not saying necessarily will - your experience has proved it's not always true - but it can.


    This is a well known problem with many different of electronic connector. Certain type of electronic 'chips' cannot deal with an incorrect connection sequence.


    Much safer to connect these things 'cold' and then apply the power......
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  9. Originally Posted by pippas View Post
    Much safer to connect these things 'cold' and then apply the power......
    my apologies, i misunderstood what you were saying.

    i often hear people tell me (younger generation) that firewire is old tech and not relevant today, and is too slow because nothing runs from firewire, and computers/laptops dont even support it any more unless you add a pci card to a pc mobo, or use a pcmcia express card in laptops that have the slot for one.

    firewire had to be used for real time tape transfer during the digital video days, and many people are still using the old DV cameras, even i still do lots of DV conversions to hdd and output to dvd or just convert the files to mpeg2 stream for playback thru a dedicated media player or usb portable drive onto the tv.

    mac has thunderbolt now, im not sure how thunderbolt works, if it is a newer version of firewire and works on the same principal, but i always found firewire more reliable than usb.

    anyway, thx for your comments and for straightening it out for me, nect time i plug my nv-gs400 camera into my pv via firewire to do a transfer, i will hook it up while pc and camera is off

    cheers
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