Sony handycam HC30E: ilink to pc firewire card question

[dood]

I am tempted to upgrade my canon mv 200 camcorder to a new sony HC30E mini DV handycam. However, I've noticed that it comes with a USB cable and I would like to capture video on my pc via the firewire card. I believe the ilink on the sony is IEEE 1394. I don't think there is a cable supplied for the ilink. How do I capture the video onto my pc?

[John F]

dood
you need a 4pin (from camcorder) to 6pin (to pc) firewire cable. If you pc doesn't have a firewire socket you can buy a firewire card for about £10.

[dood]

both my pc and laptop do have firewire cards. the problem is the socket on the firewire card on the laptop is small, like the one on the camera, and my firewire cable has a large jack. this works fine on the firewire card on my destop pc, but can't be used on my laptop.

[John F]

ok then what you need is a 4pin to 4pin one like this.
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...duct_uid=57697

[dood]

Thanks for the info John F. It seems the 2 issues in my 2 posts have been confused. What I now need to resolve is the ilink (Sony) story. Is the ilink connection Sony specific or will it take the same 4 pin jack on the firewire cable. I notice on the ebuyer page that they also sell an ilink cable! You'd think that if you bought a Sony camcorder they would include the ilink cable and not just the USB cable designed for installing the stills from memory stick to pc.

[John F]

dood
ilink is just sonys name for firewire, they are 1 and the same thing. Different makers call them different things but they are all the same. As long as you get a 4pin to 4pin you will be ok.

[MarkE19]

Yep, just to confuse the consumer firewire is also known as:
iLink
ieee1394
DV port

and there are probably more , but they are all exactly the same thing.
Sony don't supply an iLink cable because they can now charge you something like £30 for one with the Sony badge. Just get a standard cable but try to keep it to about 2m in length as you may get problems if its longer.

Mark.

hi,
I new to this so , my case is related to dood posting "Sony HC30E mini DV handycam and firewire" I have two questions:
1. Is it true that I cant use the USB to copy video from my camera?
2. if so, is it true that using any 4pin to 4pin or 4pin to 6pin .link cable and any matching standard wirefire ieee 1394 firewire card would allow me to copy my video with a good quality?

thanks a lot

[melliott1963]

Hi Shadis.

To answer your questions

1. True. The USB lead is only really any good for transfering still images from your camcorder.

2. Again true. Any ieee1394 cable (with the correct connectors) will give you the same high quality video capture.