Help Sony HDR HC5E

[Nordichund]

Hi there, sorry if this has been discussed before, but I have done a search and cannot seem to find anything helpful in the archive.

I just bought a Sony HDR-HC5E and I am having problems connecting it to my Mac. I have the latest version of iMovie and Leopard, but I'm just wondering if this handycam is compatabile with a Mac?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

 

[Nordichund]

Well after doing quite a lot of searching on the net I finally discovered that you need to buy a 4 pin to 6 pin thin fire wire to connect the Sony to the Mac, and now it works fine.

There was absolutely NOTHING in the Sony manuel of how to do this. Sony are really pathetic IMO for not making it clearer, I even called up Sony tech support and they couldn't give me an answer except that they don't support Mac.

 

[chriscl]

I have the Sony DCR-HC51E (that's its model number in the UK, anyway!) the Manual (as you say) only mentions the bundled Windows software, and just states you can't use it on a Mac!

Luckily for me, when purchasing mine, one of the guys in the store I bought from was a Mac user, and he confirmed what I suspected, that the Camcorder works fine with iMovie, all that is needed is a 4-pin to 6-pin firewire cable, (which plugs into the Firewire 400 port on my MBP).

You just open up iMovie, and then any footage on your MiniDV tape is imported in to iMovie - as with many things "Mac-related" it just works!

One thing I found (although I think this is common to all MiniDV camcorders) is that iMovie imports multiple clips from the tape as individual clips - so each time you start and then stop recording, that's one "clip".

 

[bloddwyn]

help

Hi guys,
I too have a hc5e and read with interest you threads on loading video into an imac. I bought a 6/4 pin fire wire and still can not get the video into imovie08. imovie seems to see the camera and controls it to a point but alas no picture or sound, any help would be gratefully received. Thanks
Blodders

 

[Briguymaine]

Hi guys,
I too have a hc5e and read with interest you threads on loading video into an imac. I bought a 6/4 pin fire wire and still can not get the video into imovie08. imovie seems to see the camera and controls it to a point but alas no picture or sound, any help would be gratefully received. Thanks
Blodders

try the choosing the camera in preferences in Quicktime, as if you are trying to record a new video. Then close QT and try iMovie again, this has worked for me with a different camera.

 

[rfb]

Hdr Hc5

I am having the same problem. I tried opening Quicktime as suggested, but it didn't help. The MacBook that I am using does have a firewire port, but the movie can only be seen playing on the video camera. I get a blue screen on the computer. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[howitzer922]

I have the Sony HDR-SR7 60g hard drive, would this solution work for this camcorder too? Just got my new I-mac and was shocked when i hooked my dock up to the mac with the usb cord and nothing. Thanks

 

[rfb]

I got it!

After much frustration, and many conversations with AppleCare, the problem is finally solved. There is a setting under Menu on the HDR-HC5 (and probably many of the others too.) It has to do with HD or DV output. It has to be set to HD. Otherwise, the computer will see and control the camera, but not be able to import!