HD Digital Cameras and FireWire

[Dailan Bishop]

Hello,

I use a new MacBook Pro with system 10.5.7 and Final Cut Pro 6. Mac has long used the FireWire interface (from the 400 to 800) for fast file transfer and media acquisition.

Many MiniDV video recorders are using the FireWire cabling and have worked just fine with the Mac and Final Cut for media acquisition. However, I have looked at getting a new HD digital video camera (such as the HDR-XR500V) but these cameras work off the USB2 interface.

The USB2 environment will not allow me to control the camera for "Log and Capture" in Final Cut.

Is there a quality (small body) HD digital video camera that works off FireWire 800 that will interface with Final Cut Pro?

Thank you.

[William Hohauser]

FireWire 800? No, but FW800 and FW400 are interchangeable with an adapter cable. Many of the new consumer HD cameras use the USB connection for file transfer not real-time video playback so I wouldn't worry about that so much. The only low-priced HD cameras that send a real-time video signal thru the FireWire connection are HDV tape cameras or a few JVC hard drive cameras that can emulate HDV. As long as FCP can log and transfer the AVCHD files that this camera produces, it'll be a decent choice.

[Noah Kadner]

I've seen few peripherals besides hard drives that use exclusively FW800, certainly no camera I'm aware of.

Noah

[Dailan Bishop]

William, thank you. You are spot on with what I have seen thus far with hardware characteristics ... it appears that only Mini DV cameras are using FireWire and the HD cameras are using USB.

From my perspective - this seems counter intuitive ... higher resolution cameras using lesser quality communication cable ???

William, considering the HD camera with USB file transfer ... should I take the alternative approach rather than using Log and Capture in Final Cut to acquire the video to first do a file transfer from the camera to hard drive to my laptop hard drive - then "File Import" from Final Cut?

And, BTW Noah one of many Mini DV cameras using FireWire is the Sony DCR-HC52

[Boyd Ostroff]

Originally Posted by Dailan Bishop

And, BTW Noah one of many Mini DV cameras using FireWire is the Sony DCR-HC52

I think Noah's point was that no cameras use firewire 800 exclusively. Does the HC52 do this? I doubt it....

[Shaun Roemich]

Originally Posted by Dailan Bishop

it appears that only Mini DV cameras are using FireWire and the HD cameras are using USB.

USB is typically used by FILE based cameras (recording to Solid State Media) as there is no REAL TIME MINIMUM demand on them. Yes, USB is FAST but due to the packetized nature, it CAN fall behind the minimum required data stream of playback that tape based cameras would require. FireWire is far superior for meeting data rate minimums, regardless of maximum POTENTIAL buss speed.

[William Hohauser]

Originally Posted by Dailan Bishop

William, considering the HD camera with USB file transfer ... should I take the alternative approach rather than using Log and Capture in Final Cut to acquire the video to first do a file transfer from the camera to hard drive to my laptop hard drive - then "File Import" from Final Cut?

You should use Log and Transfer which will convert the files into much larger but easier to edit ProRes QuickTime files. But you can keep the files in their original format with a third party program called "ClipWrap" turns the files into QuickTime compatible files. Just remember that AVCHD is very processor intensive and renders will take a long time.