about capturing video

Hello I have windows vista premium. I want to capture video from mi mini dv
sony dcr hc85 e digital camera. I purchased it when vista wasnt in the market
yet and the installation cd of its says its not comatible with it. I plug in
the firewire to my pc and camera and nothing happens. But when i plug in the
usb it recognizes it and it says :
Compatibility issue between Sony Handycam DCR-30 and Windows Vista

This problem was caused by a compatibility issue between Windows Vista and
Sony Handycam DCR-30.

Sony Handycam DCR-30 was created by Sony Corporation.

Recommendation

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To search for similar devices that are compatible with this version of
Windows, visit the Windows Vista Hardware Compatibility List website online.


.... What can I do!!??? thanks

What does Sony have to say about this issue? Although, I do believe that the
firewire connection should be recognized, but you would need a program and
drivers from Sony for the USB connection to work.

Since one of Sony's many divisions also makes one of the best video
editors called Vegas, I would check in their forums and see if your
Sony camera is supported.

I use WinDV (free from ) to transfer video from my
Sony MiniDV video camera to Vista. You don't need any drivers or anything for
this.

thanks for giving me some light at the end of the tunnel :), however, after
i installed this program it still gives me an error telling me the device
cannot be found...any suggestions?
much appreciate your help

I had the same trouble... and am in the midst of trying to make it work. the problem that you are having has to do with settings on your camera.

in the manual you want to find "USB streaming" for future reference. But you want to go into P-MENU and then the box marked MENU, scroll down with arrows to STANARD SET, click OK, scroll down to USB PLY/EDIT, click OK, click USB STREAMING, click OK

your computer should see the DV player after that, but whether or not you can download with this camera on VISTA, I have yet to figure out.

Hey bro i had this same issue, for months i have been searching.. I have
the same exact camera with windows vista premium.. The whole problem was
with USB for some reason it cannot see your device with a usb cord. But
you put a DV 4pin to a reg firewire port on your computer and i had my
camera on playing what i recorded... i dont know if that did it but the
second i put the firewire cable in my comp BAM! it instantly saw the
cam... weird thing i guess.. But good luck man!

From Sony's website - they state that Windows Vista does not support the USB connection with the camcorder... basically you need to use the firewire connection... I don't have a firewire port on my laptop computer that is running Windows Vista... is there any hope for me??? please help!

Maybe the following article would offer something useful:

Windows Vista -
Import video from a videotape
or...
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Win...acac11033.mspx

This doesn't help because as I stated in my original post: Vista and Sony are not compatible through the USB connection for this camera and the usb driver (this is what Sony and Windows both state). AND I do not have a IEEE 1394 connection on my new laptop...
The question is: does anyone know a way around this, like a driver update that is just floating out in cyber space (since sony does not offer one). Or is there some type of hardware I could by to connect through USB on the computer that comes out of the DV port on the camera, or even out of the S-Video part or RCA-Video Out port... I'm not that familiar with this stuff, I just know that the USB and Firewire connections both worked on my old laptop that has XP, but since the DVD-ROM drive stopped working and I had other issues I upgraded, unfortunely this one does not have the 1394 port