[MacDV] Re: DV camcorder without firewire (was iMovie 3 isout)

[Susan Tomanek]

Aloha Gary,
I just looked at my old Sony PC-1 mini DV camera which I purchased in Japan
in 1997. It has no "firewire" port. However, it does have a jack (or poo-kah
as we say in the Islands) called DV IN/OUT. An i.Link cable (with very small
and fragile ends) connects the camera to my Sony Vaio laptop pc which is
vintage 1998 (64 MB ram, 6.4 GB hard drive, 300 MHz processor).  The DV
IN/OUT jack is in a slot similar to the one you describe -- front right side
of camera, long, rectangular, covered by a door, and has a slot for the
proprietary cable with RCA jacks on the other end. Sound familiar?
Check for the DV In/OUT jack. If you have it, I think you can buy a cable
with i.Link connector on one end and firewire connector on the other, thus
allowing you to upload directly from your camera into your Mac. I haven't
needed this cable to connect to my Mac because I use a JVC deck instead of
the camera for editing purposes.
I hope this makes sense.
Susan
p.s. So you're the guy I see at night when I look at Mauna Kea from the
Kohala Coast.

----------
>From: Gary Fujihara <fujihara at subaru.naoj.org>
>To: "Macintosh Digital Video List" <MacDV at lists.themacintoshguy.com>
>Subject: [MacDV] Re: DV camcorder without firewire (was iMovie 3 isout)
>Date: Wed, Jun 4, 2003, 12:43 PM
>

> The DV camcorder I have was purchased in Japan several years ago before any
> DV camcorders were available in the US (typically there are a number of
> consumer electronics that are sold in Japan before they make it here...hence
> my constant drooling appearance whenever a visiting astronomer brings one of
> his "toys" to our observatory).
>
> The camcorder takes mini-DV cassette tapes.  It has (as far as memory
> dictates, as I am away from home on night duty) one data port on the front
> right side of the camera that is a long rectangular slot covered by a rubber
> door.  This slot accepts a proprietary cable that has RCA jacks on the other
> end.
>
> Since this camera was built around the time that IEEE 1394 may have first
> came out, my guess was that Sharp may not have opted to include FW on it.  I
> remember when my wife brought it home for my birthday present (totally
> stoked), I searched around for a FW port because the PowerMac G3 that I had
> just purchased had featured the new high speed serial port.
>
> Could I have missed it several years ago because I was looking for a 6 pin
> connector like the one on the back of the Mac (instead of the 4-pin)?
> Possible, but unlikely since my wife also read the manual (it's in Japanese)
> and could find no reference to FW or IEEE 1394.
>
> Best Regards
> Gary Fujihara
> --
> Subaru Telescope - NAOJ
> 650 N. A'Ohoku Place
> Hilo, HI 96720
> (808) 934-5972