I finally managed to Snag an optura 50 (off ebay!) for around $375! I love the quality it gets with the tapes, but the problem is...I can't do anything with it...Yes I lack two very important parts to editing on the computer. A firewire cable, and a firewire card. I was wondering if anyone here had a suggestion for a good firewire card for an Optura 50 (4 pin I believe), or even better, a firewire port that I can plug into a USB.

Any help would be appreciated. I'm just a little paranoid about buying something off the internet to actually stick inside my computer.

I saw a three-port firewire PCI (or was it PCI-X?) card on Newegg for $15 with cable included.

Those do not exist. At least not to be able to work with a DV camcorder.

You can buy any IEEE 1394 (Firewire or i.Link) cable. These cables are commonly called a "DV Cable" in camcorder manuals. Camcorders do not normally come with these cables. Many computer stores have them. Just make sure it has the correct number of "pins" on each end. Either 6 pin to 4 pin or 4 Pin to 4 pin. Your camcorder has a 4 pin IEEE 1394 socket commonly called "DV Terminal" in camcorder manuals"; You need 4 pin connector for one end of the cable. The other end of the cable which plugs into the computer will have to be 6 pin or 4 pin depending on the socket on your computer. Normally desktop computers are 6 pin and laptops are 4 pin, but they can vary.

Some Firewire cards come with a Firewire cable; some come with the wrong cable; some come with no cable.

Any OHCI compliant Firewire card should work. Price does not seem to be a factor. Here are some which seem to be popular. You did not mention if you have a desktop or laptop; these are for a desktop:

Koutech PCI to 1394a Card Model IO-PFW310
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16815104218

Q-Stor 3-Port FireWire PCI Board; with 1 x 6-4 pin Firewire cable. $12.84
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/prod...duct_id=3942785

Q-Stor 3-Port USB 2.0 and FireWire Combo PCI Adapter
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/prod...duct_id=3942789

You might read this page:
http://www.pana3ccduser.com/article...-3CCD-Camcorder


Rich

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FireWire Survey

Thanks for the help Poncho! Yes the Optura is a 4 pin, it's my desktop I'm worried about. The only thing that looks remotely like a firewire port ha 9 Pins. I read that this is a more professional option, but I can't really think why my computer would have one. Is there a step-up option from 4 to 9?
Here's a pic (taken with the optura )

You can count. Can you read? The round thing is S-Video, there is a text label right beside the socket. The white thing on the left is DVI. Both of no interest to you, this is a video card. "Proper" firewire is 6-pin, not 9. Do yourself a favor, google "Firewire" and read a bit, then click on "Pictures" link and see how the connectors look like.