panasonic camcorder help?

Gladys Worthing: Transferring - rather, importing - DV from the camcorder to your computer using USB won't work. You need a firewire cable to connect the camcorder's DV port to the computer's firewire port. If your computer does not have a firewire port, hopefully it has an expansion slot so you can add one.When the connections are made, nothing will "automatically" happen. You need to launch your video editor and import or capture the vide... the camcorder needs to be in "Play" or "VCR" mode. With a Panasonic, you may also need to be plugged into AC power.USB is used only for transferring still pictures from a memory card or for web-streaming.A USB/firewire converter/adapter will not work....Show more

Hal Palowoda: Switch the camcorder on and put it into Play (VCR) mode, then connect the USB cable, then plug it into the computer. This hot-plugging should alert the pc to the connection and you should be able to get your pictures off. Don't expect to copy the video t! ape clips across though because USB isn't the best way to do that with MiniDV. Best to use firewire, if your computer has it.