Firewire

[maxthecollie]

I wonder if any member can help me. I am trying to transfer digital videos from my canon mv790 camcorder to my pc, but my operating system does not appear to have a firewire connection. Is there anything I can use to rectify this.My operating system is windows 8.1 64bit.

 

[gpick24]

Firewire isn`t really anything to do with operating system, it`s a physical socket that you plug a cable into. You`ll be able to get a USB-Firewire adapter.

I think this is the correct one - Firewire to USB Adapter | eBay

 

[maxthecollie]

I have a usb to firewire lead.The firewire fits in my camcorder and the usb in my pc., but my pc will not pick it up.

 

[gpick24]

Then you either need the drivers (check device manager) or there is some setting you need to check, most likely com port if it`s anything like USB-Serial.
Did you get any documentation on how to set it up?

 

[maxthecollie]

I have had my camera for a long time now.When I bought it I was on windows 5 I think and it worked ok on that.I heard that I can get a firewire card and install it in my pc,but taking the panels off and connecting is beyond me.

 

[gpick24]

if it has a spare PCI slot then yes a PCI card would probably make it a bit easier. Very easy to install.

Hack Attack: How to install a PCI card

 

[gpick24]

What software do you use to connect to the camera, or did it just show as an external drive and you copy & paste the videos from there (when it worked).

 

[maxthecollie]

It was a cd rom supplied with the camera, but it wont work with windows 8

 

[gpick24]

have you tried compatibility mode?

Getting your applications and devices working in Windows 8.1 - Microsoft Windows Help

What`s the name of the software, there may be a new version on their website that works with windows 8.

 

[maxthecollie]

I've emailed cannon and they can't help.They have no latest drivers. I have rang Use It Computers at Rishton and I think I will pick up a card from them and try it.

 

[gpick24]

OK. If you still need to install the software, I have some old versions of windows knocking about somewhere, right back to 98, you can install them within windows as a virtual machine. Not used windows 8, but it looks like virtual machine software comes with it.

Running virtual machines on Windows 8 with Client Hyper-V - Microsoft Windows

 

[maxthecollie]

Cheers thanks for your help

 

[gpick24]

No probs, hope you get it sorted.

 

[Studio25]

I have a usb to firewire lead.The firewire fits in my camcorder and the usb in my pc., but my pc will not pick it up.

Cables like that do not work - ever.

Firewire and USB are both serial protocols, but there the similarity ends. Firewire is peer to peer while USB is host to peripheral. USB started off at 12mbps and USB2 upped that to 480mbps - but that data throughput was only available in short bursts. Firewire can tank along at 400mbps continually, so it was the ideal standard originally for video streaming.

The need for 400mbps had not really materialised before USB3 was announced - the original HD rate matched that of DV cameras at about 30mbps. So it looks like firewire will die off if it hasn't already.

If you have a desktop machine, a firewire card is the best bet. It will need to suit the architecture of the slot you intend to use, which depends really on the age of the machine. Use the mainboard tab of CPU-Z which will tell you which slots are free, or at least give you the model of motherboard and you can look up the slot types and compare the free ones and make your choice from that.

If it's a laptop, you need an expresscard or PCMCIA card depending on what slot your laptop has.

 

[gpick24]

Cables like that do not work - ever.

Firewire and USB are both serial protocols, but there the similarity ends. Firewire is peer to peer while USB is host to peripheral. USB started off at 12mbps and USB2 upped that to 480mbps - but that data throughput was only available in short bursts. Firewire can tank along at 400mbps continually, so it was the ideal standard originally for video streaming.

The need for 400mbps had not really materialised before USB3 was announced - the original HD rate matched that of DV cameras at about 30mbps. So it looks like firewire will die off if it hasn't already.

If you have a desktop machine, a firewire card is the best bet. It will need to suit the architecture of the slot you intend to use, which depends really on the age of the machine. Use the mainboard tab of CPU-Z which will tell you which slots are free, or at least give you the model of motherboard and you can look up the slot types and compare the free ones and make your choice from that.

If it's a laptop, you need an expresscard or PCMCIA card depending on what slot your laptop has.

I had read they were no good for streaming, thought they might be OK for file transfer, but haven`t used one myself. Obviously this is your area of expertise Studio.

 

[Studio25]

I had read they were no good for streaming, thought they might be OK for file transfer, but haven`t used one myself

The sustained transfer speed of USB2 should actually be enough for streaming - it's lower than firewire, but still way faster than the current requirements for consumer video applications. A lot of the bad-mouthing of USB or firewire is down to fans who have settled on one particular standard.

Obviously this is your area of expertise Studio.

It used to be - when I had a studio. I don't keep up-to-date as much as I could, but for older technologies (i.e. more than five years ago) I'm fine.