Issue with Canon HV 40 Capturing BLOWN FIREWIRE?? Dv to HDV?

[ducksalot]

Hey Everyone! I am having some issues with a Canon HV40. It has worked fine for nearly two years and suddenly today it stopped being recognized by my computer. I have heard other folks have had issues with Windows 7 (Which I am currently running) Anyways I tried everything on the internet.. literally for almost 5 hours I have trouble shot this utilizing forums and other resources. I am at the point where I believe the firewire port has been blown somehow. (Note I was running 6 pin into 4 pin) I have never had issues but I've always heard this is possible. I love this camera and I would like to keep shooting with it. I have heard that it is probably cheapest to just buy a crappy camcorder and use it as my capturing "bitch" so to speak since decks are too expensive and all the functions on the HV40 still work great except for firewire out. I have found many different cameras on craigslist however many of them are "dv" only. My question is if I get one of these cameras with a "dv" firewire out will I be able to capture the "hdv" footage recorded on the hv40? Or is the quality stored on the tape so it should be okay??? Please let me know! Thank you

[redwudz]

Unfortunately, if the FW output on the camera is dead, not worth repairing, IMO.
DV is a bit old these days with camcorders recording HD AVC/H.264 and like data to a camera hard drive or
a 128GB SD card, or whatever the camcorder can use.

I can't answer your question about compatibility with HDV footage. Others here probably can.
But if you really need the quality on your existing tapes and the only 'quality output' is DV
then you need a compatible device (camcorder or other) to get them to your PC.
Hopefully you may find a used, decent camcorder that will work for you.

But I would look into some of the newer camcorders that save to HDD or SD cards in a more compact format than DV.
Editing won't be as easy, though.

Others here may have better suggestions.

Excellent post. And welcome to our forums.

[JVRaines]

I wouldn't buy another camcorder until you confirm where the problem lies. It could be the IEEE 1394 port on your computer, or even the cable. A DV camcorder will not play HDV tapes. They're different formats.

Sometimes the camcorder and the PC disagree about which way the signal is going. One trick is to disconnect the cam, set edit in/out points and put it into REC-PAUSE. Then STOP — you don't want to actually record over your tape! Then plug it back into the PC and see if the DV status gets properly reset. This has worked for my Sony DV camcorder.

[ducksalot]

I have tried multiple cords and ensured the card is being properly recognized. Note the camera has worked fine for years and then suddenly began to stop working. I have tried alternate drivers, checked all settings.
How can I confirm? I don't have another firewire device to check the driver although it appears to be working fine in Device Manager. I also don't have another computer to test on. My assumption mostly derives from the spontaneous failure. Thank you for any input.

[ducksalot]

JVRaines I don't understand what you mean by placing it into REC-PAUSE. I can't adjust anything in the edit software because the capture device is not being recognized, neither by the computer device manager or the software. Please explain further

[aedipuss]

the firewire port on canons doesn't usually fry, but the female cable connector to the motherboard is only held on by tiny solder joints. if you can wiggle the connector it's probably broken off the board.

as long as you don't shoot in 24p mode any hv20/30 should be able to read the tapes. ebay sometimes has working ones cheap.

[JVRaines]

JVRaines I don't understand what you mean by placing it into REC-PAUSE. I can't adjust anything in the edit software because the capture device is not being recognized, neither by the computer device manager or the software. Please explain further

I'm talking about the camcorder, not the computer. Set edit points using the camcorder menu, and then put it into REC-PAUSE with camcorder transport controls. Then STOP it and plug back in. (I forget; maybe you have to STOP after plugging in.)

[SameSelf]

Do you recall ever hotplugging your HV40 into your PC? Doing so can easily fry the port on either your camcorder, your PC, or both.

[aedipuss]

Do you recall ever hotplugging your HV40 into your PC? Doing so can easily fry the port on either your camcorder, your PC, or both.

utter baloney. i've been in the business more years than i can count and never has a hot plugging fried a port. there is NO electrical power in a 4 to 6 pin firewire cable.

[ducksalot]

I can wiggle the connector a little bit. I just read online that blowing it has happened to some folks. I hope that is not the case as I really love this camera. IS there any way to repair it if it is broken off of the board? Also FYI I have hotplugged it for years. Thanks

[JVRaines]

A competent electronics tech should be able to reattach the connector to the board — provided that the board is not irreparably damaged.

[SameSelf]

Do you recall ever hotplugging your HV40 into your PC? Doing so can easily fry the port on either your camcorder, your PC, or both.

utter baloney. i've been in the business more years than i can count and never has a hot plugging fried a port. there is NO electrical power in a 4 to 6 pin firewire cable.

utter idiot. no one cares about your experience. facts only please.

http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/en_US/faq/en403753
https://support.focusrite.com/hc/en-gb/articles/207359305-FireWire-safety-when-pluggin...eWire-devices-
http://www.sounddevices.com/tech-notes/firewire-hot-plugging-precaution