View Full Version : Firewire to USB
Hi
Does anybody know where I could get a GOOD and RELIABLE Firewire to USB connector as my Camcorder only has a Firewire connector to go to Computer
and New computers do NOT have a firewire connector only Eithernet and USB??
green granite
21st Jul 2012, 10:24
As I understand it you can't connect a firewire device to USB,
firewire needs a constant transfer rate for video, but USB works on a burst rate transfer. Also the protocoles each use are different so hardware conversion would be needed.
You will need either a Firewire PCMCIA Card (or Express Card) for a laptop or a firewire PCI card for a PC
Milo Minderbinder
21st Jul 2012, 10:53
adaptor cables certainly exist - eg these Amazon listings
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002WPUC5Y/ref=asc_df_B002WPUC5Y2106311?smid=A1THAZDOWP300U&tag=nextagusmp0350171-20&linkCode=asn&creative=395105&creativeASIN=B002WPUC5Y
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0049DJ0JG/ref=asc_df_B0049DJ0JG2099500?smid=A1NGTOEEQFS753&tag=nextagusmp0350171-20&linkCode=asn&creative=395105&creativeASIN=B0049DJ0JG
But I wouldn't expect them to be very reliable in use - I'd have expected the data speeds to be incompatible
MacBoero
21st Jul 2012, 12:36
That won't work Milobender. There is no way that I know of, that allows a Firewire device to connect to the USB port on a computer and talk. Read the reviews of the those links you put to Amazon, nearly all of the reviews are negative because the cables do not do what you are suggesting it might.
Milo Minderbinder
21st Jul 2012, 17:50
I didn't have time to do that, but it doesn't surprise me.
Thinking about it, there'd be all kinds of issues with driver / codec compatibility
green granite
21st Jul 2012, 18:30
obviously my posts are invisible.
ian16th
22nd Jul 2012, 22:13
Will this do the job?
Pinnacle Systems - Product summary - Studio MovieBox Plus (http://www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSite/us/Products/Consumer+Products/Home+Video/Studio+Family/Studio+MovieBox+Plus+Documents/Technical+Specifications/MovieBox+Plus+Tech+Specs.htm)
Note; I'm asking a question.
Milo Minderbinder
22nd Jul 2012, 22:41
It may do, but when Pinnacle released those things years ago the reviews slammed them. The onboard video encoding didn't work fast enough so you got jittering and synch problems. With a newer modern machine it may be OK though
As a general comment, my experience over the years with Pinnacle gear - whether TV tuners, DVD burning software, encoding hardware or video editing stuff is that its really not worth the hassle. Too many patches required, and often it simply doesn't work. Never used this exact model - I had an earlier analog to digital device and that was close to useless
mixture
23rd Jul 2012, 07:02
New computers do NOT have a firewire connector only Eithernet and USB??
Macs have firewire built in.
Go out and buy yourself a firewire card for your peecee and be done with it. Won't cost you the earth and will be better than the lousy USB transfer speeds.
Or if your camcorder stores onto SD / CF / whatever cards, perhaps just get a USB reader for that.