macbook air doesnt have firewire, but thunderbolt (need to transfer dv footage) help?

wakkaday · 17-12-2011, 18:44

i have dv tapes which need transferring to my computer.
unfortunately i don't have a computer with firewire, so i borrowed my brothers macbook, i assumed it had firewire, but it doesn't...its a macbook air 13.3 inch...and it has a few usb ports and a thunderbolt port

i also have a windows laptop with usb port 2.0...

is there anyway i can transfer my dv footage onto these systems, preferably mac..so i can edit..

thanks

this is my laptop

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/APPLE-MACB...item1e65cdad00

Halcyon · 17-12-2011, 18:53

Do you have a USB cable for your camera?
Some cameras let you use Firewire or USB.

**Chris** · 17-12-2011, 19:05

You might have some luck if you can get hold of a USB Expresscard adapter and an Expresscard with Firewire ports. I can't see any other way of making a FireWire device talk to a USB port.

wakkaday · 17-12-2011, 19:18

my windows laptop has a PCMCIA device slot? can you get a firewire card this, and i can connect the cable from that to the camera and feed it in that way?

im not sure if the macbook you can get a usb/firewire converter cable

**Chris** · 17-12-2011, 19:24

You don't need a USB/Firewire converter cable - no such thing exists. What you need is an Expresscard adapter that will attach to your Macbook's USB port, then an Expresscard with Firewire ports to slide into the Expresscard adapter. That is the only way to add Firewire ports to a Macbook Air, so far as I can see. There were supposed to be Thunderbolt - Firewire adapters coming to market this year but it doesn't seem to have happened yet.

Or, as you have said, you can import to the Windows laptop if it has Firewire. Once you have the raw DV files in the Windoze machine you can always manually shift them over to the Macif you prefer to edit on the Mac.

Uncle Peter · 17-12-2011, 23:10

I think this is the one Chris means, it connects to the thunderbolt port on your Macbook Air (assuming it's one of the latest ones)

http://www.sonnettech.com/news/pr201...2511_echo.html

and one of these Expresscard firewire adapters

http://www.sonnettech.com/product/fw...esscard34.html

wakkaday · 17-12-2011, 23:17

which one would i need for my windows laptop? it has a pcmcia port? i think it will be cheaper and quicker if i am just transferring footage?

Uncle Peter · 17-12-2011, 23:24

Depends on the adapter on your laptop, if it's an oldie it might be pcmcia. Do you have the manual/spec?

wakkaday · 18-12-2011, 11:50

its an acer 6920g

**Chris** · 18-12-2011, 12:04

If you have a PCMCIA slot on your Acer laptop, then a PCMCIA FireWire card is the simplest and cheapest option.

I assume there is video editing software on the Acer or some other application that will receive the DV stream from the camera?

Uncle Peter · 18-12-2011, 12:08

Expresscard then

http://www.ebuyer.com/155989-startec...ard-ec13941a1b

heero_yuy · 18-12-2011, 12:44

Whether you can connect the firewire port to a USB2 depends upon the exact implementation of the firewire in the DV. I have a HP digital camera that has a firewire port and uses a firewire to USB cable to connect to the laptop. In this case the firewire runs as a slave rather than peer to peer.

You can use its own software app or just access it as an external drive.

Amazon
do a range of adapators/cables for firewire (IEEE 1394) to USB. Some are pretty cheap so may be worth a punt.

Jameseh · 18-12-2011, 17:08

You could try the Pinnacle Studio Moviebox. £60 on Scan. Uses USB.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pinnacle Website

Capture from DV, HDV and Digital8 camcorders or VCRs
Capture from analog camcorders, 8mm, HI8, VHS, SVHS, VHS-C, SVHS-C, or VCRs (NTSC/PAL/SECAM).
Import from AVCHD* and other file based Camcorders, Digital Still Cameras, Mobile Devices and Webcams via USB