Canon Digital Mini Camcorders
How to connect camcorder to computer to make videos on computer?
I’m trying to figure this out for my dad. He owns a Canon ZR70MC digital video camcorder and has asked me to find a way to make the mini DV disks somehow digital video files that can be put on a computer (ex. AVI files). I know there are places and technology that can convert the mini DV tapes into files but they’re fairly expensive.
So, my question is does anyone know if the Canon ZR70 have the capabilities built in to convert the mini DV tapes to digital files? I see plenty of ports that I’d guess should connect to a computer. Has anyone had success doing this?
Here’s a link to the type of camcorder I’m speaking about:
http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/support/consumer/camcorders/minidv_camcorders/zr70mc
Hi Ricky:
You are on the right track: The miniDV tapes contain a digital video stream that you can easily transfer to a computer via FireWire (“DV” or “IEEE 1394A” link). If your desktop PC or laptop doesn’t have a FireWire port or card, they are very affordable (laptops can use a PC-CARD or ExpressCard to add an extra port; desktops use a PCI card).
The Canon ZR70 originally came with 2 CD-ROM’s with some “video browsing” software to help with camcorder to PC transfers.
On the Canon miniDV series website, the “Canon CONSOLE Image Control & Storage Software v1.1″ is outlined, which has the Import/Export features you’ll need. I don’t think it was part of the “Digital Video Solution Disk” that’s listed “in the box” on CD-ROM, shipped with the ZR70-MC (that has the TWAIN & Windows Image Acquisition drivers, as well as ZoomBrowser EX – for photos and movies on the SD card only).
Also the “DV Messenger” software that came with the ZR70-MC (on the “DV Network Solution Disk”), has miniDV File Transfer capabilities (via FireWire), in addition to its primary webcam purpose. The latest version “DV Messenger2″ is a free download: http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/support/consumer/camcorders/minidv_camcorders/dv_messenger_2#Overview
hope this helps,
–Dennis C.
Canon MD101 Digital Mini DV Camcorder
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