Help with 1394 on HC96

Hello Friends:

I just got a HC96 but have difficulty with 1394 cable. Mine is a VIA card bus with 3 6-pin input. The card bus can be recognized but when I turn on the camcorder the camera can not be recognized (basicaly there is no response). My setup is an IBM T42 laptop with sp2. My cable is 4-6 pins.

I really need some advises on how to get it working or identify if the ports are ok on the camcorder.

The main reason for a HC96 is for it's line-in recording and digital pass through capability. I'm thinking of returning it to B&H to exchange for a DVD camcorder or a hard disk camcorder if I can't make it working in their 7 days period.

Thanks,
Ben
:confused:

Does other firewire devices work on your PCs firewire ports?
Did you install the latest driver for your firewire ports?
Can you test the hc96 elsewhere?
Did you turn on the play/record mode on your hc96?
Try using the programm winDV or dvio (both free programs) to capture the video from your hc96.

Thanks Peter for the reply.

I'll try turn on the play/record mode and give it a try. I think there are compatabilty issues with my current laptop. It should most likely be the fire wall setup that my company put in or the sp2. Anyway, the USB is working. I can live with VCD2.0 for a while.

Thanks

Ok, but firewire will give you a better picture and more quality:

http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/498/09dboth500zq0.jpg

Thanks Peter for the reply.

I'll try turn on the play/record mode and give it a try. I think there are compatabilty issues with my current laptop. It should most likely be the fire wall setup that my company put in or the sp2. Anyway, the USB is working. I can live with VCD2.0 for a while.

Thanks
Most firewalls can be temp. turned off. Have you tried that?

Thanks for all of the advices. The firewire quaility will lure me to invest a new PC to do the digital job in the future. I will keep my work PC in the way as it is cause that's where the money came from:) .

After tried this nice machine for a while, I noticed that the performance under room light is poorer than my Hi8 TRV-608. And it is very difficult (for it is small) to hold it steady in most condition. I can easily get blurred still pictures. Peter's website demonstrated a good way of holding it steady but it's not that easy to carry. Right now I'm trying to hold this tiny machine against my chest to make it stable. It do helped a little. Maybe you guys know better skills to hold it steady without additional equipment?

Thanks,
Ben :)

Holding against your chest will likely cause a heartbeat vibration...

Most manuals recommend locking your elbows against your ribs, and using two hands on the camera (side-strap and under) and shooting with the eyepiece (I'm presuming this is not a model that dropped the eyepiece and just left an LCD).

After that... A tripod, or a SteadiCam Merlin...

Holding against your chest will likely cause a heartbeat vibration...

Most manuals recommend locking your elbows against your ribs, and using two hands on the camera (side-strap and under) and shooting with the eyepiece (I'm presuming this is not a model that dropped the eyepiece and just left an LCD).

After that... A tripod, or a SteadiCam Merlin...

Thanks for the advice. I'll try that. Also I'll try to use a tripod.

By the way, my 1394 worked all of sudden!

I think most likely it is the contact issue somewhere. I'm so happy now! Thank you guys very much!

:p

Fine :)

Activate Steadyshot and try to hold the cam like this:

http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/1056/holdcamfo3.th.jpg (http://img177.imageshack.us/my.php?image=holdcamfo3.jpg)

Fix your right wrist with the left hand.

Works best for my hands ;) .

Fine :)

Activate Steadyshot and try to hold the cam like this:

http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/1056/holdcamfo3.th.jpg (http://img177.imageshack.us/my.php?image=holdcamfo3.jpg)

Fix your right wrist with the left hand.

Works best for my hands ;) .

That's a great idea!
It works for me as well!

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