Video Transfer to Macbook Pro

[JonnyAlpha]

Hi;

I am looking for options for transferring video from two camcorders to my Macs and poss PC.
From my research it looks as though I need a Firewire and USB option.
Both Composite Video to USB, Firewire to USB and Firewire (old) to Firewire new)

What are my options - are there any decent (not too expensive) USB options?

Addtnl info:

I have a Mackbook Pro Unibody Late 2008 with, Firewire 800, USB 2.0 and a new Mackbook Pro bought this year which comes with USB 3.0, Thunderbolt 2.

I have two Camcorders which both use Mini DV Cassettes.
One is a Panasonic NV-DS60 which has S Video and Composite Video out (it also has a USB connection but according to the manual can only be used for stills)
The other camera is a semi professional Cannon which I believe to a Cannon DM-XL1S this model (it's at work and I have only recently acquired it) this also looks to have S and Composite Video out but also has a DV terminal listed for transfer of video digitally. Googling DV terminal it could be a 4 Pin Firewire?

So what are my options for transferring video for editing on both cameras?

With the Panasonic I could put the tapes in the Cannon and use that but I need to look at both alternatives as the Cannon needs to stay at work?

I also need to look at options for installing via USB as we need to use both the old Mac and poss PCs at work?

Many thanks

 

[ColdCase]

Looks like there is a FW (DV) port on the side of the Panasonic NV-DS60. I was surprised when you mentioned a DVT camera that lacks digital video out (like FW). The older analog tape cameras wouldn't have a digital interface.

There are inexpensive composite video to USB converters that could be used by either computer. But thats a pain to set up, and video quality suffers.

Apple has an inexpensive FW to TB converter that works very well.

I would think about saving the captured video file on a portable USB drive or stick and that video file becomes portable. Getting it into a PC (or any other computer) would be a simple file transfer. I'm sure you would find a PC program for capturing digital video, but PCs with FW ports are not as common.

 

[jjhoekstra]

I captured/converted a lot of dv tapes the last 12 months. The cheapest and easiest way for you seems to be to use the dv-out of the Panasonic into the old Macbook Pro, you only need to buy a micro FW to FW cable. The nice thing is that in that situation you keep full video-quality and you can control the camera from your computer. Capturing using composite-conversion is always a hassle and the quality of the videos suffers. Once captured on the computer use USB or a network solution to move the files to wherever you want.
As a side-remark: Of every 100 DV tapes I converted, at least 3 where unreadable and at least 60 percent of the other tapes had one or more problem area's on the tape when converting. I had already stopped using dv tapes a few years ago, and I am glad I did considering the rapid degradation of the tapes.

 

[Dave Braine]

Firewire is the only way to download miniDV video footage. The USB ports on a computer can't cope with the video signal from miniDV Camcorders.

 

[GhostLaboratory]

I captured/converted a lot of dv tapes the last 12 months. The cheapest and easiest way for you seems to be to use the dv-out of the Panasonic into the old Macbook Pro, you only need to buy a micro FW to FW cable. The nice thing is that in that situation you keep full video-quality and you can control the camera from your computer. Capturing using composite-conversion is always a hassle and the quality of the videos suffers. Once captured on the computer use USB or a network solution to move the files to wherever you want.
As a side-remark: Of every 100 DV tapes I converted, at least 3 where unreadable and at least 60 percent of the other tapes had one or more problem area's on the tape when converting. I had already stopped using dv tapes a few years ago, and I am glad I did considering the rapid degradation of the tapes.

What software do you use to do that? Just old iMovie? Quicktime? Thanks.