Trying to copy footage onto laptop

[punee]

Hello guys,I have an old Sony DCR-TRV250E handy cam.I am going to shoot my first short with it.I went to the location today and shot few test footages.I tried to get some experience on editing.When I connected the USB cable to my lenovo L420 laptop and to the handy cam and switched it on,I didnt get any notification on my lappy saying a new hardware has been connected.I didnt get any notification on the handycam too.Could anyone help me how to transfer video from handy cam to Laptop?
This is my handycam:http://www.sony.co.uk/product/sdh-digital-8/dcr-trv250e
And I use windows 7.Cheers!

 

[PaulGriffith]

The USB jack on these cameras is for transferring stills off the memory stick. The FireWire (called DV or iLink) on the cam is what you'll use to capture footage. Inside your edit software you'll have some sort of capture option.

 

[punee]

Yup.There's a DV jack out but I dont think I have a DV wire.

I dont want to capture footage while connected to lappy.I want to transfer the video files which I've shot to lappy.

 

[CamVader]

Yup.There's a DV jack out but I dont think I have a DV wire.

I dont want to capture footage while connected to lappy.I want to transfer the video files which I've shot to lappy.

You won't be. That's what you use to transfer the files. get yourself a firewire cable, go into your editing software and open whatever allows you to capture, push play on the camera and click "start capture" in your editing software.

 

[punee]

I wont be able to what?
1)Transfer footage from cam to laptop or
2)Shoot while connected to laptop?

 

[Cracker Funk]

Like both Lord Vader and Griffith have mentioned, the DV connection will only work to transfer files, like still picks stored on the memory card. To transfer footage, using a miniDV camera, you need one of these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/6FT-FIREWIRE-CABLE-6-4-PIN-IEEE-1394-iLINK-PC-MAC-6-/120573920759?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c12c405f7#ht_1696wt_1159

and one of these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-400mbps-VIA-Chipset-4-ports-PCI-Firewire-Card-/190575634427?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c5f3167fb#ht_2775wt_1392

(or, the equivalent card that would fit in your computer)

 

[CamVader]

Like both Lord Vader and Griffith have mentioned, the DV connection will only work to transfer files, like still picks stored on the memory card. To transfer footage, using a miniDV camera, you need one of these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/6FT-FIREWIRE-CABLE-6-4-PIN-IEEE-1394-iLINK-PC-MAC-6-/120573920759?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c12c405f7#ht_1696wt_1159

and one of these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-400mbps-VIA-Chipset-4-ports-PCI-Firewire-Card-/190575634427?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c5f3167fb#ht_2775wt_1392

(or, the equivalent card that would fit in your computer)

Good catch, CF. I forgot all about the capture card. Some computers have these already built in.

 

[Cracker Funk]

Good catch, CF. I forgot all about the capture card. Some computers have these already built in.

There was a pretty brief time-period, in which the firewire was commonplace, and most computers came with a card, built-in. But the firewire has kind of become an obsolete technology, so now it's more difficult to find. In my city, for example, you can't even buy a card, your only option is to buy online. And the only place, locally, that sells the cable is Radio Shack, and they wanted to charge me $40! WTF?!

 

[CamVader]

There was a pretty brief time-period, in which the firewire was commonplace, and most computers came with a card, built-in. But the firewire has kind of become an obsolete technology, so now it's more difficult to find. In my city, for example, you can't even buy a card, your only option is to buy online. And the only place, locally, that sells the cable is Radio Shack, and they wanted to charge me $40! WTF?!

Amazon has them cheap for around $8.00. My 8 month old MacBook Pro still has a firewire 800 port, so I figured I'd mention it.