Options for HDV capture with the demise of firewire

Bill Hark

Bill Hark

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I am bummed that it is impossible to find laptops with firewire inputs, and I have a huge catalog of miniDV tapes along with some life left in my HDV tape-based camcorders. Sooner or later, I'll have to replace my computers. Has anyone had experience with the Datavideo DN-60 Digital CF Card Recorder which has a firewire input or similar devices? These capture HDV or DV video without a computer and the files can be transferred without firewire. I have also seen some devices that have legacy firewire and input the computer via Thunderbolt 3 but they are not windows compatible.
 
I just bought the OWC Thunderbolt 3 dock and installed it over the weekend. I'm using it with two different MSI G60 Ghost laptops that run on Windows 10. One is mine the other my wife's. I have a Canon HV 40 Camcorder, so I'm in the same predicament as you are Bill.

The FireWire port on the OWC dock is 800 9 pin while on the Canon it's 400 4 pin. I ordered a cable to handle this conversion today, so I'm eager to find out if it'll work. The 4K monitor looks glorious and so far I'm sold on this dock. They just released a new model for sale on 8/29. It was worth the wait.
 
Mark, I had looked into the OWC dock but I thought it was not compatible with Windows if using the firewire input. I use a similar Canon HV20 as a dashcam. Dan, my old laptop has an express card and I use one for capture via firewire. I have noticed that newer laptops (at least the smaller ones that I use for chasing) don't have express card slots.
 
That was exactly what was holding me up too - Windows incompatibility. I spent a solid week (or more perhaps) doing research on this and it was hard to find a dock that was compatible with Windows. Honestly, it started last Christmas when I bought my wife a 4K monitor, so I've been waiting and watching as patiently as I could before making a final decision. I eventually wound up here with this review: http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-thunderbolt-dock. They seem to complain of a coil whine with the OWC but I haven't noticed it. I'll certainly find out if it works when the cable arrives and will let you know.

This is the dock I bought after all the dust settled: https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/docks/owc-thunderbolt-3-dock
 
I'm still using a 2010 vintage Lenovo Thinkpad. It has a firewire port and express card slot, as well as an i5 CPU and 8GB of RAM, which is more than enough for HDV editing. These turn up on ebay for under $200 fairly often, and they're rugged machines. I've got both a Canon XH-A1 and a Sony HVR-Z1U (pro scrounging skills) and I intend to use them until they fall apart.
 
A used HDV deck with HDMI outputs is also an option - the HVR-M25U can be found for a couple hundred bucks on eBay at times (they were 4 grand when new).
 
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Had to buy several cables when I bought new laptop in November, but this was able to work with all my fire wire cameras going into a Thunderbolt 3
Sent from my iPhone using Stormtrack
 
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To update this topic from last Fall, I’ve not had any luck in capturing HDV from my Canon HV-40 using the OWC dock I mentioned above. There are a couple of things I want to look into as it bothers me when something doesn’t work like it should. It inspires me to try and find a way, but maybe it’s just not possible since my camcorder is 9 years old now. $80 for Robert’s cable is way cheaper than the OWC dock, but I still need the dock to run dual 4K monitors, so the FireWire port was a nice to have even though it failed. I need to double check OWC support to see if they’ve ever released a new firmware for the dock to improve Windows compatibility, but not holding my breath.
 
Mark, thanks for the update. I had really thought the OWC dock would work for Firewire video capture. I assume Robert's solution is using an Apple and I am assuming he is actually getting video capture.

Another option, though more expensive, is to use a Sony HVR-MRC1K capture device. I got a very good deal on one (used, through Ebay) a couple of months ago but haven't had a chance to try it out. Apparently, they can be hooked to a tape-based HDV camera to get real-time video capture while also recording on the tape. A datavideo DN-60 is a similar device. The video is input via firewire and the device records to a CF card.I'll post an update when I can try out the HVR-MRC1K.
 
You’re welcome and sorry for the delay. One tidbit I’ve learned in the last few months of research about our Canon HV models is if your 1394 chipset is from Texas Instruments it typically works. Other FireWire chipsets can be hit or miss (mostly miss) and the OWC’s is from LSI Logic per Device Manager.

Are the newer DSLR cameras that shoot HD video of decent enough quality that having a camcorder is no longer necessary? From what I’ve read it seems that way but there’s no substitute for firsthand experience from chasers, especially in low light situations.
 
I’ve tried to go to just using my DSLR for video and stills for the past 3 years and I’m buying a camcorder this year... Switching back and forth between modes and then no matter which I’m doing I feel like I should be doing the other. So, back to doing both at once! I tried, now I’ll just go right to 4K.
 
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