Do i need a firewire to transfer from my minidv to my PC? Will USB work (granted i know it will be slower, but will it work?)

USB, even 2.0, isnt suitable for video transfer. Firewire s the way to go. Actually I am pretty sure the only way a device can even transfer video via usb, if there are any out there anymore, is at a lower resolution. I belive some video capture devices worked in this manner, but regardless, go firewire, you pretty much have to.

What camcorder are you using that you were even considering USB? if it has a usb port as well as firewire, generally the usb port is for transferring digital photos off of the camcorder.

Actually... USB 2 is faster than Firewire (480Mbps vs 400Mbps).

It's a Samsung SCD103.. but now that I think about it, it seems that the USB port is probably for digital stills. But, I'm a computer person by no means. How do I get a firewire?

If your computer doesn't have a Firewire port, you'll have to add one (or buy a computer with one installed already! ).

You'll have to purchase a Firewire PCI card, open your computer, install the card and install any required drivers. Firewire cards can range anywhere from about US$10 to US$75.

Installation is a pretty simple procedure, but if you're not comfortable opening your computer case and installing it yourself, you'll have to pay someone or have a friend do it.

Here's a sample card:
http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/default.aspx?edc=287301

thanks for all the info so far. i see they do range in price a lot... what is the difference between an expensive and inexpensive one? obviously i want to play as little as possible unless there is a good reason not to. I mean, i don't see a benefit in having 3 ports for firewire, what would i need to use all of them for?

Good question...mine has four ports, but I never use more than one (yet!).

$20-30 seems like an acceptable price range...sometimes the really cheap models can be poorly made, be defective, behave erratically, have poor manuals or software, and usually there is no manufacturer support whatsoever.

You may have one or more Firewire ports already, depending on the age of your PC. Most new motherboards now come with Firewire built in (it'll say in the motherboard manual), and some soundcards have it as well (mine does - a Creative Soundblaster Audigy 2).

If you don't have one, and are not comfortable with fitting one, take your PC to your local store (one that specialises in computers) and ask them to fit it for you (for a fee, naturally).

Also, I know that in the context of network cards, the more expensive ones tend to have better processing chips on them to make the job as fast as possible. If you have one built into your motherboard, it will use your main processor and so it will not be as fast as a separate one (but it sure is easier than fitting one).

As an aside...I remember installing mine and being really frustrated because it would say "Device Cannot Start" in the Device Manager and the thing wouldn't work. I tried updating drivers, uninstall/reinstall, troubleshooting wizards, all to no avail. Out of curiosity, I moved the card to the next open PCI slot...and lil sucka worked! Go figure...

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Originally posted by poptart:
As an aside...I remember installing mine and being really frustrated because it would say "Device Cannot Start" in the Device Manager and the thing wouldn't work. I tried updating drivers, uninstall/reinstall, troubleshooting wizards, all to no avail. Out of curiosity, I moved the card to the next open PCI slot...and lil sucka worked! Go figure...

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You probably put it too near to another card. I think it causes IRQ conflicts, so I always spread mine out by at least one slot between them.

if you do need to buy one, get at least two ports. that way you can hook up a fire wire drive one day. "why," you ask, "do i need a firewire drive?" you will once you start getting video into the computer i have 80gb int and 160gb ext filled up right now.

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Actually... USB 2 is faster than Firewire (480Mbps vs 400Mbps).

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Yea i am aware of the throughput of both standards, but it is my understanding that the protocol for firewire is more stable for transmitting the real time feed off of a DV device vs usb 2.0, and subsuquently remains the standard for such devices. Moreover its rare to see a camera that would stream DV across usb 2.0, generally if you can get video via usb it is usually an mpeg4 compressed file for email or something of the sort, not a DV stream. That is still transmitted via firewire. I've personally never seen a cam that transmits a DV stream across usb 2.0.

"Actually... USB 2 is faster than Firewire (480Mbps vs 400Mbps)."

Not in the real world. Sustained throughput with USB2.0 is terrible, compared to Firewire 400 or 800. Whereas Firewire is reasonably robust and will stream video without dropping frames even when multiple devices are chained, USB2.0 is not suitable at all. No matter what PC manufacturers claim, USB2.0 remains relevant only for printers and other low-bandwidth devices.

USB2.0 for video or hard drives? Forget it...

The output on that camera is probably for pictures or "e-mail videos" like Jeff pointed out. It could also, frighteningly, be intended for streaming an inferior, lower-resolution version of the video feed.

Windows PC makers have been systematically trying to tout USB2.0 as some kind of replacement for Firewire - many PCs don't even come with Firewire, which is absolutely ridiculous. There's no better common consumer standard for affordable, high-bandwidth devices like hard drives and cameras.

When editing in Premiere, I sometime access video files stored on an external USB 2.0 drive. Never had any problems with it...videos play fine, everything loads, transfers, saves, etc. with no noticeable delay.

But that's for editing...when capturing or exporting to tape, I feel more comfortable with and have more confidence with Firewire. Not sure I would use USB even if it were possible and easy to set up.