Import from camera in iMovie '09

Hello, I own a Sony Handycam DCR-SR80.
It (sadly) exports in MPEG-2, and I used to convert with StreamClip.
However, I found out that when I choose to 'import from camera', iMovie converts and imports it in.

But the problem is, randomly, iMovie decides not to read my camcorder. I keep unplugging it, restarting iMovie, etc, and maybe once every 20 attempts, it reads and opens a window where I can choose which clips to import.

I don't do anything different, I just keep trying and sometimes it works.

Help please?

Thanks in advance.