Canon Optura cant be seen by computer

[dozdog]

I have both Mac ( @ 10.6) and PC (XP) available and have tried to hook up 1394 Firewire to dump tape into a computer. I have tried both Mac IMovie and PC Windows Movie Maker software.

However, the computer(s) can’t see the camera. The cable is 4-pin on the camera end. The manual shows a camera to camera connection but im not interested in that.

I have successfully dumped tape directly to my DVD recorder, so I think the cable and camera connector are working OK.

It seems that if the Canon will dump to the DVD that it should also work with the computer(s)?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

[XTR-91]

Check the manual. If the camera could go to computer inthat way, it would probably say so in the manual. “DV” output (1394)onmost devices is usually an output for streaming only, though it could be different on your model.

USB should allow direct interface with your camera.

[NeilRussell]

The early Opturas didn’t have USB. They relied on the 1394 port to transfer video from tape to hard drive.

I had a situation wherethe Opturahad been talking to my PC via the firewire (4 pin to 4 pin) with no difficulty and suddenly stopped. “DV in” showed on the camera’s monitor but I couldn’t get my software (an old version of Vegas called Video Explosion) to recognize it.

By chance I had purchased another firewire cable and when I tried it in place of the one I had been using, the problem was miraculously solved.

That may not necessarily be the issue here, but if you have another cable it couldn’t hurt to try

[XTR-91]

I guess that I was thinking it was a DSLR cam… Optura struck me as some kind of lens name that they would be boasting on a Canon DSLR.

You should make sure that the camcorder’s Firewire port is set to output. If you’re capturing “DV”, that the “DV” option is set to output, or if you’re capturing “HDV”, that the “HDV” option is set to output.

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