Basic connection question

vanakaru

MBP does not have video capture biult in. So you may be able to connect camera to your mac, but not to transfer LIVE video.

MargueriteGalizia

I've seen others achieve this. Is it because I'm using an HD camera?

Skulpture

Nope nothing to do with HD/SD.

If your camera has a firewire output (mini Dv) then you should be able to connect it straight into the firewire 800 port.

It will have a good few frames delay on it though as its older technology now.

Mini DV to FW 800 are difficult to come by I've found. Buy you can get a FW400 to FW800 adapters though which often works out cheaper.

bruper

Maybe you could use the built in WiFi feature of this camera...

Unfenswinger

If you have a Firewire connection on the camera this, https://github.com/andreacremaschi/Syphon1394/releases may be of interest.

I haven't tried it yet but I plan to in the coming weeks as I've got some old DV and HDV cameras that could be used instead of collecting dust.

MargueriteGalizia

Thanks for all the replies. The camera doesn't have a mini DV port. It has an HDMI mini port, a USB port and an AV port. The wifi option, from what I can gather, only works via UStream. Probably someone with more than my basic knowledge would be able to work it out. Any other suggestions? Should I just try working with a good quality webcam instead?

Skulpture

In that case you defiantly need a capture device.

dbini

without a separate capture device, you won't be able to get a video feed through the camera's ports you mention, so a webcam might be a viable option.

MargueriteGalizia

Is there a good quality webcam out there anyone could suggest? Or A capture device? Image quality is pretty important for the piece. Thanks

Skulpture

Im tempted to say webcam on this occasion.

Skulpture

Ive used these before and work great on mac and pc:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Logitech-960-000721-C525-HD-Webcam/dp/B0050FBISI/ref=lp_430595031_1_16?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1415024767&sr=1-16

MargueriteGalizia

Thanks for the advice. The problem is that I need the camera to stand alone, to be angled correctly and possibly zoom out. Will the cable from the camera to the laptop be long enough? Will it be possible to angle the webcam? And zoom?