Hi guys

i am having problems with the apple g4 powerbook i recently bought. i have the sony dv-602 camcorder which records onto mini-dv......but the apple laptops cannot accept/read mini dvds. i cant see a firewire port on the camera so how do i get my footage onto my computer? do i need an external dvd drive reader, or am i just missing the firewire port?

should i just trade in the dv cam and go back to using dv tape as i've heard thats the way forward?

any help would be great

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.