Firewire

[Cochin450]

Hi can I put a firewire card in the sd card slot

[hech54]

A computer firewire card into an SD slot?
You don't.

[jan5678]

Maybe the op means a pcmcia slot witch can hold a firewire card?
I assume he uses a laptop though.

On a desktop computer you can use a pci or pcie card if there is a slot available in your computer.
Search for it on ebay or aliexpress

[johnmeyer]

There are three ways (that I know of) to add Firewire (a.k.a. 1394) to an existing computer:

1. Buy and install a PCI Firewire card (desktop computer only).
2. Buy and install a PCMCIA (also called PC Card) Firewire card (older laptops).
3. Buy and install an ExpressCard Firewire card (new laptops).

Not all laptops have a PCMCIA or ExpressCard slot.

Some might suggest a fourth option which is to purchase a USB to Firewire converter. I have never used one, but every time I look at reviews (see Amazon), they are all very negative.

[jan5678]

@johnmeyer

You are right, i missed the 3e option, i could not remember the name.

And usb to firewire does indeed exist but may not be fast enough, or it must usb 3.0 (if it exists)

[Cornucopia]

Speed has little to do with it - usb is not expecting isochronous transfer.

Scott

[jan5678]

@cornucopia

Oke i didn't know that

[orsetto]

A related discussion from last year can be found here. Basically, if the issue is you want to connect a Firewire camcorder to a new laptop, the only potential solution is to look for an ancient Pinnacle Moviebox accessory. This was the only dongle to ever successfully perform Firewire>USB conversion. But it is very old, works best under Windows XP, even when new the conversion feature was buggy and failed for about half the users who tried. You can find them on eBay still, but the likelihood it will serve your purpose in 2017 is probably small.

The biggest problem with Firewire is that it didn't die alone: at around the same time, the concept of having any sort of expansion slot in laptops also disappeared. So we're doubly screwed: you can't get Firewire built into a new laptop, and you can't even get a new laptop with an expansion slot that would let you ADD a function like Firewire. I can understand why Windows laptops would drop Firewire, but the inability to get an expansion slot on even high-end new laptops is just ridiculous: how much could the stupid slot cost for them to include at that price tier? I suppose it might be due to the "here again, gone tomorrow" plethora of different PCcard and ExpressCard standards they got hit with a few years ago: they couldn't seem to pick just one and stick with it, then buyers lost interest altogether. Too bad.

For any sort of serious Firewire work, most of us buy or maintain an older computer with a built-in connector. A lot of devices work better via built-in standardized controllers than optional expansion cards, and some cards are better than others. If you're willing to switch to a new Mac laptop for portable Firewire applications, Apple's current Thunderbolt port can be adapted to Firewire rather easily, although it can get klugy if the FW device you want to attach draws a lot of power.

[hech54]

I'm REALLY curious. Do you think the OP bought a PCI-E card and tried to stick it in the SD Card Slot of his laptop?

[Cochin450]

Hi Terfyn could you please point me to a vidio program for an absulute beginner all so can a disc I burn here play on TV in USA oh and what night do they meet at Timporly

[Cochin450]

Hi Orsett I have a Panasonic camcorder with no firewire port so I think Pinnacle is out of the question could I get a converter for this camcorder

[usually_quiet]

Hi Orsett I have a Panasonic camcorder with no firewire port so I think Pinnacle is out of the question could I get a converter for this camcorder

There are standard definition capture devices which connect to a camcorder's composite or S-video and analog stereo audio ports and output DV over Firewire, but that may not be the best solution available for whatever it is that you are trying to do.

So before going any further, what exactly are you trying to do and why do you need Firewire to do it? Also, what is the model number for the Panasonic camcorder?

[Cochin450]

I have a Pinnacle studio and it says I need a firewire to transfer film from my Panasonic camcorder it is a HDM SD/0

[Cochin450]

Sorry I mean Sd40

[usually_quiet]

I have a Pinnacle studio and it says I need a firewire to transfer film from my Panasonic camcorder it is a HDM SD/0

Sorry, but Firewire transfer is only meant to be used for DV and HDV camcorders, which record to tape in DV for DV or MPEG-2 for HDV.

Your Panasonic SD40 camcorder uses very different technology. It records to SD cards or internal memory, and uses AVC/H.264. Transfer to a PC should be done using the camcorder's USB connection and the software on the disc included with the camera, HD Writer LE 1.0. If the Pinnacle software is not too old, it may be able to open the recordings once they have been transferred to the PC's HDD.

[Cochin450]

OK thanks for that advice