Video Conversion Puzzle: 4-pin Firewire to Thunderbolt 3

[shamusmcfly]

Trying to covert miniDV tapes from an older camera (Sony TRV900 - photo below) over to my 2017 iMac.
I've been out of the game for a while, and unfortunately misplaced all the chords I used to edit/upload with years ago.
I'm not seeing any clear & obvious solutions online that don't involve purchasing anywhere from 2-5 chords/adapters,
so I wanted to see if anybody on this forum had ideas to help me streamline the process and save some $$.

So, I'm starting with the 4-pin firewire port on the actual camera and need to get to the Thunderbolt 3 port on my iMac.

[Attachment 52572 - Click to enlarge]

Do the newer USB-3 ports carry video?? If it's not HD, would/could those ports be useful?

[Attachment 52573 - Click to enlarge]

Any help, ideas, assistance on helping me figure out this ENTIRE puzzle would be huge.

I APPRECIATE AND RESPECT YOUR TIME>>>

Shamus

[smrpix]

As I recall, the ONLY combination that works requires several connectors.

An Apple Firewire 400 to Firewire 800 adaptor

Apple Firewire 800 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter

Apple Thunderbolt 2 to Thunderbolt 3 USB-C adaptor.

[Brad]

Quoting myself from a similar thread.

Yes, you can chain adapters together to do it on a modern Mac:

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/382905-Mini-DV-transfer-using-Thunderbolt-3#post2480697
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/376991-No-Firewire-Port-Apple-Thunderbolt-to-FireW...pter-MD464LL-A
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/377500-New-computer-old-firewire-tech#post2437075
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q15QjTTF8_I

On Windows, there is one option to convert Firewire to USB for DV sources. I forget which OS is the maximum supported by latest drivers.

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/380541-Where-can-I-get-USB-3-0-to-Firewire-400-con...=1#post2460123

[Cornucopia]

don't hold your breath.

scott

[ConsumerDV]

As I recall, the ONLY combination that works requires several connectors.

An Apple Firewire 400 to Firewire 800 adaptor

Apple Firewire 800 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter

Apple Thunderbolt 2 to Thunderbolt 3 USB-C adaptor.

This guy (YouTube video) demonstrated the above setup with a Windows machine equipped with Thunderbolt 3. He successfully connected a Canon HV40 and was able to capture HDV video via HDVSplit. (Gee, I did not know Thunderbolt 3 was available on Windows PCs, I lived under a rock for the last 5-7 years.) I hope you don't mind if I repeat your list with male/female designations... although it is hard to figure out whether Firewire 800 are male or female Apple's genuine adapters are crazy expensive for a piece of wire, but he says that non-genuine may not work. I know that for automotive installations, each wired Apple CarPlay socket comes with a chip that performs the handshake, so maybe here they do the same.

• Firewire 400 4-pin male to Firewire 400 6-pin female
• Firewire 400 6-pin male to Firewire 800
• Firewire 800 to Thunderbolt 2 male -- $30
• Thunderbolt 2 female to Thunderbolt 3 male (shaped like USB-C) -- $50

And this guy (YouTube video) demonstrated the above setup with a 2019 iMac equipped with Thunderbolt 3, and with an older MBP equipped with Thunderbolt 2 (no need to spend extra $50 for T2 to T3 dongle, also he used a single FW400 4-pin to FW800 cable). He successfully imported HDV video from a Sony HDR-HC1 HDV camcorder (such a sexy looking and premium-feeling machine, I owned one. Sadly, shoots in interlaced mode only).

• Firewire 400 4-pin male to Firewire 800
• Firewire 800 to Thunderbolt 2 male -- $30
• Thunderbolt 2 female to Thunderbolt 3 male (shaped like USB-C) -- $50