You could get an external, caddy-based USB 2 reader and plug that into your mac. There are plenty at newegg.com / dabs.com / even amazon have them.

I'm not intimately familiar with the camera you have. I take it you've checked the specs carefully to ensure there's no firewire port? (makes sense if it's a DVD-recording camera though). Does the camera have a docking station (like many Sony cams have). If so, there may be a firewire port on that.

DV tape is of course, a very good format to use. Once you have shot the footage you want, it is simply a matter of conencting the camera via firewire to then capture (using your favorite capture app).

Bear in mind that the Sony mini DVD camera compresses the video HUGELY to fit it onto those mini-dvds, the quality you will get from Mini-DV tape will be MUCH better.