USB camera connection not working

Hi all,

I have a brand new iMac and am trying to connect an old Panasonic camcorder to log and capture some mini dv footage. The firewire cable that comes with the camera doesn't fit into any of the ports on my computer. I have a USB cable that fits into the camera but the computer doesn't even acknowledge that it's connected. Do I need to get some sort of firewire adapter or is there a way to "find" the camera on the comupter when I have it connected via USB?

 

Cheers!!