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Connecting a mac to a Panasonic

G

glosterseagul

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 13, 2004
199
0
Not sure of the model number - Yup, I think that may help- sorry not got it here.

My friend bought a panasonic and he can't use it with his mac. The usb2 option sees the video camera but he can do nothing with it. The firewire cable is not mac compatible.

He went to his local apple centre and they confirmed it does't work ...

Is that the end of it or is there a fix?
 
CanadaRAM

CanadaRAM

macrumors G5
Oct 11, 2004
12,417
6
On the Left Coast - Victoria BC Canada
Yup, you could be more vague, but I don't know how off the top of my head...

USB never was intended for DV transfer. In most cameras, it can be used with Windows to transfer stills or low quality video.

Have no idea what is meant by "The firewire cable is not mac compatible"

Firewire 400 cables come with 2 varieties of ends, 6pin and 4 pin. 4pin is commonly used on cameras. Macs have 6-pin Firewire 400 connectors. Some Macs also have Firewire 800 connectors which are different again. Windows laptops with firewire usually have the 4 pin connector.

So, if it is the cable that is incompatible (as in, doesn't fit the port) then it's a matter of getting the right cable. The cable doesn't care what OS machine it is plugged into.

If it's a matter of the cable plugs in but the camera is not recognized by any Mac software, then it is one of two things. Either:
1) The camera is not supported by the iLife software, so you're hooped; or
2) The camera's Firewire port has been burnt out by sloppy insertion of the firewire cable or damage to the firewire cable, allowing 5V to flow momentarily down the data line, so you're hooped.
 
G

glosterseagul

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 13, 2004
199
0
CanadaRAM said:
Yup, you could be more vague, but I don't know how off the top of my head...

USB never was intended for DV transfer. In most cameras, it can be used with Windows to transfer stills or low quality video.

Have no idea what is meant by "The firewire cable is not mac compatible"

Firewire 400 cables come with 2 varieties of ends, 6pin and 4 pin. 4pin is commonly used on cameras. Macs have 6-pin Firewire 400 connectors. Some Macs also have Firewire 800 connectors which are different again. Windows laptops with firewire usually have the 4 pin connector.

So, if it is the cable that is incompatible (as in, doesn't fit the port) then it's a matter of getting the right cable. The cable doesn't care what OS machine it is plugged into.

If it's a matter of the cable plugs in but the camera is not recognized by any Mac software, then it is one of two things. Either:
1) The camera is not supported by the iLife software, so you're hooped; or
2) The camera's Firewire port has been burnt out by sloppy insertion of the firewire cable or damage to the firewire cable, allowing 5V to flow momentarily down the data line, so you're hooped.
Click to expand...

Wow - what agreat reply! Thanks.

I think its that there is no cable that fits the mac...
:(

Thank you again for your most comprehensive reply
 
mduser63

mduser63

macrumors 68040
Nov 9, 2004
3,042
31
Salt Lake City, UT
glosterseagul said:
Wow - what agreat reply! Thanks.

I think its that there is no cable that fits the mac...
:(

Thank you again for your most comprehensive reply
Click to expand...

If it's really using FireWire, then I'm pretty sure there is a cable that fits a Mac, you may just have to buy it. If it's like most camcorders, you need a 6-pin to 4-pin FireWire cable. Macs have the larger 6-pin connectors while most camcorders have smaller 4-pin connectors.

According to Apple's website "many Panasonic camcorders with FireWire-output are Mac compatible."
 
Applespider

Applespider

macrumors G4
Jan 20, 2004
10,939
1
looking through rose-tinted spectacles...
glosterseagul said:
ps the camera is VDR-M50B
Click to expand...

Hang about; isn't that a DVD camcorder which, if it's like the Sony DVD ones, doesn't have a FW outlet since the DVD is finalised in the camcorder and the USB2 conenction is only there to transfer photos?

If so, then there's a problem. There was a thread the other day about how to convert/import MPEG2 video to DV-format that iMovie etc can understand.
Biggest problem being that if it's on a mini-DVD, then it's not going to work in a slot-loading drive.

Is there any chance your mate can take it back and swap it for a DV camera?
 
bokdol

bokdol

macrumors 6502a
Jul 23, 2002
897
35
VA
If you camera uses an MPEG-4 solid-state card or has a USB port and not a FireWire Port, you can transfer your video a files to your computer via the USB port. When you connect your MPEG-4 device to your computer using a USB cable, your camera or device appears as a hard disk on your desktop. You can then open the device's icon and drag the MPEG-4 files into your iMovie HD projects.



this is directly from the imovie help... basicly if you plug it in the computer it should show up as a drive on the desktop. hopefully
 
B

brucelieb

macrumors newbie
Dec 5, 2005
7
0
newbie

I am admittly clueless. But the minidv camera I borrowed didn't show up on my hard drive . A message came up how I need to use firewire. I was usb out of luck. Now I'm shopping and I can't find a camera with firewire . Under $500.
 
Applespider

Applespider

macrumors G4
Jan 20, 2004
10,939
1
looking through rose-tinted spectacles...
Most consumer cameras have FW although they sometimes just call it i.LINK (Sony's name for it) or IEEE 1394. They don't always come with FW cables (just USB) but you can buy one. It's usually 4pin though so you'd need to buy a 4 to 6 pin cable for it to work in the Mac which means if you're looking on the old camera, you're not looking for the same shape of port as you do on the Mac.
 
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