Panasonic NV-DS99B camcorder to laptop problem

[biggee]

I have an old Panansonic mini dv NV-DS99B camcorder which I am trying to connect to my laptop to rescue old footage and use for my golf etc. I have purchased a 4 pin firewire to USB lead (laptop does not have firewire port)which once connected states device not regonised. I have lost the original CD which I presumed contained the driver though I suppose it would be useless now as it would be Windows 95 and I'm on XP. I have failed to find a driver on the internet. Is there anyway around my problem or is my old piece of kit rendered useless. I have read about capture cards etc but need to know I'm going in the right direction.
Any help is much apprecaited.

[Mr Lazy]

I'm 98% sure a Firewire to USB cable will not work. Hopefully your laptop will either have an ExpressCard slot or a PC card (PCMCIA) slot into which you can add a Firewire adaptor:

If it has an ExpressCard slot:
http://www.usbnow.co.uk/PCMCIA,_Expr...duct_info.html

If it has a PCMCIA (aka Cardbus) slot:
2 Port Firewire PCMCIA Card - USBNow.co.uk

p.s. You won't need any other drivers.

[jaymac]

Get your money back for the lead

[A n d r e w]

I second that. FireWire to USB? They're totally imcompatible methods of data transfer - at least without some sophisticated electronics in between the FireWire output of your camcorder and the USB input on your computer. An unadorned lead just ain't gonna cut it!

Smells like eB*y spirit . . .

[biggee]

Hi,

Thanks for the replies, I have purchased a PCMCIA 2 port firewire ieee 1394 cardbus adapter with a new firewire lead.
Plugged it in and it makes the acceptable beep but it does not show up in My Computer, I can see the adapter is present in the device manager and it says the device is working properly, however there is no sign of the camcorder. I also tried windows movie maker to see if its showing up there but no joy. Any ideas as its starting to p**s me of.

[jaymac]

Make sure you first start with both pc and cam off .Connect ther lead then switch the pc on then te cam ensuring the cam is switched to play back .If you connect with either switched on it is possible to fry the cam

[biggee]

Hi Jaymac,

Just tried your formula but still no joy, to recap I shut computer down, connected lead , booted up, turn camera on with playback,nothing any more idaes?

P.S I checked and its not fried yet but i'm tempted to throw it on the woodburner.

[biggee]

Anyone!!

[A n d r e w]

To state the obvious, have you checked the camcorder manual to make sure you've got the camera set in the appropriate mode for firewire video transfer? For example, it could be that the camcorder won't play ball unless it's connected to the mains supply.

Otherwise it's pretty difficult to know whether the problem is at the camcorder end or the adapter end, or even an issue between any number of the two pieces of software (OS and editing software) and the four pieces of hardware involved (port, adapter, lead, camcorder). You could test the camcorder and lead by trying them on someone else's computer, and the hardware by trying another camcorder.