Cameras working through USB and Firewire on Mac ?

[Mister Paul]

Hi,

I am looking for DV quality cameras that could work through USB and Firewire on my new MacBook Pro.
(my old good Sony DCR TRV 33E doesn't stream on my Mac)

USB is important for me to use more ports than the firewire one.

Thank you for your help
Paul

[edDV]

DV camcorders usually use Firewire. There are some Pansonic models that also allow full 720x576 resolution over USB transfer but these use proprietary USB 2.0 drivers and proprietary capture/transfer software.

Here is one model but the description says USB 2.0 drivers are Windows XP only.
http://www.ciao.co.uk/Panasonic_NV_GS37E__6633087#productdetail

At the higher end, Sony XDCAM and Panasonic P2 camcorders support USB 2.0 transfer (prices start at $8K and $6K respectively).

[Mister Paul]

Thank you for your answer.

So it seems that there's not a Firewire + USB Mac compatible camcorder…
Right ?

[rumplestiltskin]

Correct; you need a Firewire camcorder for DV into your Mac.

[gspanos@comcast.net]

My Canon ZR 700 works great. It has firewire, dv and USB ports, and the "passthrough feature that allows you to pass the signal from a VCR through to iMovie, FCE, or FCP. Prices range from $299 for a refurbished model to $399 for a new one.

[edDV]

My Canon ZR 700 works great. It has firewire, dv and USB ports, and the "passthrough feature that allows you to pass the signal from a VCR through to iMovie, FCE, or FCP. Prices range from $299 for a refurbished model to $399 for a new one.

Are you saying the USB2 port passes DV at full resolution? What software is used for capture on a MAC or PC?

Do you have a reference for this camera that indicates DV is passed over USB2?

The camcorderinfo.com review didn't mention USB2 other than when used with the flash card that was limited to "320 x 240 or 160 x 120 at a stuttering frame rate of just 15 frames per second".
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Canon-ZR700-Camcorder-Review.htm

That is the problem with USB2 on most DV camcorders. It is used for web streaming or chat.

[gspanos]

The camera passes signals from either a VCR or a DVD player via the dv cable and the resolution is about the same as far as I can tell, though I haven't done a bitrate comparison. I import the signal to iMovie and edit from there.

I was mistaken in my earlier message - there is no firewire port. I've never used the USB terminal, but I think it's for connecting to a printer or transferring stills from a memory card to a computer, not for video transfers.

[edDV]

The camera passes signals from either a VCR or a DVD player via the dv cable and the resolution is about the same as far as I can tell, though I haven't done a bitrate comparison. I import the signal to iMovie and edit from there.

I was mistaken in my earlier message - there is no firewire port. I've never used the USB terminal, but I think it's for connecting to a printer or transferring stills from a memory card to a computer, not for video transfers.

You do have a Firewire port and you are correct about USB. It is for stills and heavy compressed video ~352x240.

"Pass-Through" is an analog to DV conversion. The DV is then passed via Firewire to the computer. DV resolution is 720x480i regardless of source. Audio is uncompressed PCM stereo.