DV Tapes

Yo. A few weeks ago, I bought a digital video camera, which takes MiniDV tapes. My problem is this: I have no way of uploading them to the computer. Connecting to the computer via USB doesn't work, and I suspect that some sort of external device is required, but I haven't a clue what kind of device I'm looking for. Can anyone help me?

USB is horrible for uploading video from DV cameras, and the only program I've ever seen support it was Windows Movie Maker, and it doesn't even do a very good job of it. You'll want FireWire or iLink or IEEE 1394, whatever they're going to call it for doing that. Most DV cameras should have a FireWire port, but also for FireWire, your computer will need a FireWire port as well, and you'll need a cable, most likely a 6-pin to 4-pin FireWire cable, but it might be labeled as iLink as well. Here's a good image showing a FW cable http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P...2.LZZZZZZZ.jpg . If your computer does not have a FireWire port, then you can get a PCI upgrade card with FireWire ports for relatively cheap. I bought one for $30 not too long back and it came with a 6 to 4 pin cable. Hope this helps you out.

EDIT: That's $30 Canadian. And I forgot to add, FireWire is the standard for uploading DV. It's supported by an extremely wide range of programs, even WMM, though WMM is a horrible program. You won't have trouble finding a program to upload video if you use FireWire.

I have the same problem with my JVC camera, its usb and there isnt a way to upload video to the computer from it only still images. I was told I would need a TV Tuner card and connect it to that useing the A/V cables.