Firewire to Usb 2.0 Adapter?

[Tyler2000]

I need an adapter to connect the firewire cable coming from my camcorder into the the USB 2.0 port on my computer. Do they make this?

I saw this one on ebay, but it isn't the right firewire connection:
http://cgi.ebay.com/USB-2-0-to-4-Pin-IEEE-1394-Adapter-Converter-PC-MAC_W0QQitemZ25000...QQcmdZViewItem

[edDV]

Gotta be bogus. You need a PCI or PC card IEEE-1394 adapter in most cases.

An external box that converted IEEE-1394 to USB2 would be on the expensive side. There is a DirectShow group working on IEEE-1394 conversion driver over USB2 but they have been silent recently.

[redwudz]

From this site: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-firewire-to-usb-adapter.htm This about sums it up, "Although a Firewire to USB adapter does not exist, and cannot exist because of differences in the two technologies......"

If you do an internet search for one of those 'adapters', you will get more confused. A PCI card with either Firewire or USB 2.0 is what they are really talking about. And that's what I would recommend purchasing. PCI Firewire cards go for about $20US, then you just need a common mini Firewire to 6pin Firewire cable from your camera to your computer.

In that site you linked to, that looks like a mislabled USB to USB mini adapter, not Firewire. Mini Firewire looks like this:

And USB Mini B like this:

[Tyler2000]

Ok fine. If I get a firewire card in a new Dell XPS 400, I'm thinking the port won't be on the front like it was in my old gateway. I guess I'll have to keep my firewire cable plugged in the back if I don't want to pull my system out to get to the back of it. Would there be a better way to do it?

[ZAPPER]

Ok fine. If I get a firewire card in a new Dell XPS 400, I'm thinking the port won't be on the front like it was in my old gateway. I guess I'll have to keep my firewire cable plugged in the back if I don't want to pull my system out to get to the back of it. Would there be a better way to do it?

multiport hub?

[JohnnyMalaria]

The Pixela PIX-UVCD/U1W is the nearest thing you can get.

It will let you transfer video from your camcorder via USB 2.0 *but* it has a converter chip (PIX-MC20) that creates MPEG video from the DV. i.e., you don't get a true DV transfer (at least that's what I think it does - the specifications are hard to get at since most of the stuff is in Japanese). Also, it's only for NTSC.

To say that such a thing can't exist isn't true (since it does!) plus, for a dedicated application such as DV transfer, it is possible to transcode the Firewire signal to a USB2.0 signal and then use Windows drivers to support DV input (Microsoft introduced DV support via USB2.0 in to the Windows kernel with XP SP2).

[redwudz]

ToTyler2000: Why not just a simple extension cable? Female Firewire six pin to male Firewire six pin. Seems stupid to me, but those cables seem hard to find. Firewire can use up to a 4.5 Meter cable or about 15FT US. Or, if you are using a camcorder for your Firewire input, you can get a mini Firewire 4 to a regular Firewire 6 pin cable up to 15 Feet.

[edDV]

DV over USB2 is a possible but not widely supported technique.

The overall concept is described in this Microsoft White Paper.
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/stream/vidcap/DV_AppCompat.mspx

The safe rule to use with these oddball techniques is never assume it works the way you expect. Look for user proof that is does work with your intended hardware and software.

IEEE-1394 is a peer to peer connection and works with little OS CPU interrupt. USB requires control from the CPU and thus is more prone to data flow drops.

[thecoalman]

Would there be a better way to do it?

If you get a pci card that has internal connections and have a open drive bay you can get something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16815104225

[ofbarea]

I need an adapter to connect the firewire cable coming from my camcorder into the the USB 2.0 port on my computer. Do they make this?

Yes they do. Check this out: https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?p=1367172#1367172

I still think is a better option to add a firewire card to your PC.

[kschang]

Not at $100, when a firewire card costs maybe $25.

[budz]

Not at $100, when a firewire card costs maybe $25.

If you're lucky a ADAPTEC FIREWIRE CARD can go on sale at COMPUSA for 20 bucks!!!!

[ZAPPER]

Not at $100, when a firewire card costs maybe $25.

If you're lucky a ADAPTEC FIREWIRE CARD can go on sale at COMPUSA for 20 bucks!!!!

The fire wire cards used to come with some form or another of editing software or like the intro-version of some software. But 25 to 40 dollars sounds about right for what you get.

[ofbarea]

I can only see someone buying this firewire to USB adapter if his PC does not have PCI slots. There are a few PC's without any kind of expansion.

Still this is an expensive and limited option and no standard software will capture DV through this adapter.

Other good Options are SIIG cards. Most of them carry TI chipset, the sameone as Adaptec cards.