Is there a Digital8 camcorder that plays analog 8mm and hi8 tapes, and is compatible with Mac OS X?

Q. I want to edit my old analog tapes on my mac, and record new ones at digital quality. Surely there is a camcorder out there to suit my needs...?

A. You'd have to be careful when choosing a Digital-8 camcorder because they are not all backward compatible with 8mm & Hi8 video tapes.

Alternatively, you can use an analog/firewire converter device:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61745
that is if you still have the analog 8mm and Hi8 camcorders to playback the video tapes.

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I just bought a Halina DV3000 Digi-Camcorder, where do I get the Mac OS X driver for it?

Q. its connected via usb and i dont know how to get imovie to recognize it as a camcorder
it doesnt come up as a storage device and imovie wont capture its video

A. iMovie as it currently exists on your Mac will never recognize this camera directly.

When you connect the camera to your Mac using USB, the camera should appear as a storage device on the desktop. You should be able to double click on that stroage device icon to open it. Somewhere in there are the video files.

These video filess will most likely be eithere REALLY compressed MPEG2 or JPEG2000 files. In either case, iMovie cannot deal with them yet.

You need to download, install and use StreamClip
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/video/mpegstreamclip.html
to convert those files to something iMovie can deal with - the most common file types are .mov, .dv and .mp4. Once they are converted, you can drag/drop the files into the iMovie clips pane or timeline.

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How do i import videos from a memory card on a Canon NTSC ZR200 camcorder to imovie?

Q. PLEASE HELP ME. please...
i have a Canon NTSC ZR200 camcorder and a mac with OS X software.
i want to upload some videos i made on the cameras MEMORY CARD to the computer.
i tried to use a firewire AND usb (not at the same time).
none of them work.
please help me. im desprate. please.
thank you.

A. Not directly.

Take the card out and use a card reader to copy the files to the Mac.

Download and install MPEG StreamClip and convert the very highly compressed video to MOV or MP4 format that iMovie can deal with.

When the conversion is complete, quit MPEG StreamClip and launch iMovie. Drag the converted video to the capture area or the clips pane (depends on the version of iMovie).

Warning: The original video on the memory card is REALLY compressed. When you fill a monitor or TV when playing back, the video quality will be terrible. This is not unexpected.

If you want high quality video, then record the video to the miniDV tape. That is DV-format and can be imported to iMovie with the firewire cable connecting the camcorder's DV port to the Mac's firewire port - and the camcorder in Play mode.

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How can I use my Sony Handycam HDR-CX150E instead of my iSight on Mac?

Q. I know the Sony Handycam is a camcorder, but I would really like to use it as a camera on my macbook pro instead of my built in iSight. My macbook pro is a Mac OS X 10.6.8 and my Handycam is a Sony Handycam HDR-CX150E. Please help!

A. You don't. The Sony HDR-CX150 and your Mac has:
USB which does not stream video;
HDMI which provides video out - but the Mac does not have an HDMI input built-in;
AV-out which provides video out - but the Mac does not have an AV-input built-in.

Generally, high quality video streaming can be handled using a camcorder that supports a firewire connection in the Mac. These are typically miniDV tape based camcorders. There are no consumer grade camcorders (including your CX150) that have a firewire connection.

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Why is that in my camcorder the images look bright and colorful, while in my computer they look dull?

Q. Camcorder : Canon HV30
Computer Mac OS X.
It happens every-time I import the images. The color is light compared to what I see in the camcorder.
How can I fix the problem anyway?

A. The pics in your camcorder are the true pics. Try looking at them on your TV for their full effect. RGB

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How to connect a sony vx2000 to my mac os x?

Q. Hey, I have recently gotten a sony vx2000 and have noticed that my mac os x does not have the old firewire port that all previous macs had. My question is what can i do to connect my vx2000 to my mac os x's new firewire thingy? do I need to purchase a certain cord or port? please help really need to capture some footage!

A. Since you did not tell us WHICH Mac...

If you have a MacBook, the ones made between October 2008 and June 2009 don't have a firewire port. If your Macbook was made before or after that time, it has a firewire port. MacBook Airs don't have a firewire port. In both cases, there is no way to add a firewire port. The only workaround I can think of is to get another Mac with a firewire port, import the video to an external drive then move the external drive to the MacBook and edit... USB-to-firewire cable/converter/adapter things won't work.

ALL other Macs made in the last 10+ years have a firewire port. Older Macs have a 6-pin firewire 400 port. Newer Macs use a 9-pin firewire 800 port. If your Mac has a firewire port and you used to connect with a 4-pin to 6-pin firewire cable, all you need to do is get a 4-pin to 9-pin firewire cable.

Yes, the 6-pin and 9-pin connectors are different shapes/sizes. I used to import video from my Sony miniDV tape camcorders to a Mac tower (QuickSilver) with a 6-pin firewire 400 port... then to an iMac flatpanel G5... and now with my iMac 24" flatpanes, I use a 4-pin to 9-pin firewire cable and they work just fine importing to iMovie '09 and FinalCut...

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How do I download a video from my digital still camera to my Mac and send it in a email?

Q. My camera is a canon Powershot A530. I have the USB cable to connect to my mac computer OS X, however my camera doesn't have firewire capability and from everybodys answers I understand that I need a firewire. I read about the adaptor but does the adaptor works if the camera doesn't have firewire capability ?

A. As far as I know. Not a lot of the cameras in the Market has got firewire.

Perhaps you don't even need one. As suggested, only DV Camcorders has firewire and this is the case because the file for the still video is very huge and firewire is more reliable in transferring such huge file with no errors.

For your case any video file that is 3GB and below you can transfer it using your USB cable.

Just Open your iPhoto, and then it would recognize your camera to do the importing of photos. Video would be imported in as well.

For simple editing purpose, iMovie could be used after the content of the camera is imported into the iPhoto.

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How to convert videos using my mac?

Q. I have a Mac running os x I want to convert my .mov files. Does anyone know if mac has a built in converter? I want to convert my videos to mpeg 4 or a file that youtube can use.

A. iSkysoft iMedia Converter for Mac is an all-in-one converter that supports DVD ripping and video conversion. It lets you rip DVDs and convert videos directly for use with iPad, iPod, iPhone 4, Apple TV, or other devices. Easily convert DVDs and videos to almost any format of your choice, including WMV, AVI, MP4, MOV, FLV, etc. Fully support camcorder video files like AVCHD (MTS/M2TS) and JVC (MOD/TOD). iMedia Converter 2.0 is specifically designed for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard and 10.6 Snow Leopard.
http://www.dvdvideosoftware.org/iskysoft-imedia-converter-for-mac.html

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