I've been having this same problem on and off using video capture in Vegas 4.0e. Nothing I do seems to make it work then all of a sudden it starts. When it's not working I can capture with Windows Movie Maker (which uses the CanonDV device) and with AmCap (a Windows AVI utility) using the "Microsoft DV Camera and VCR."

Seems like it must be a software or configuration problem, as all the hardware involved works fine outside of Sony Video Capture.

I went from 4.0d to 5.0a and don't have any problems with capture in Vegas. I however don't try to capture directly with my camera attached to a 1394 input card. I use in stead a Canopus AVDC-1394 Converter card. XP sees this as a "Microsoft DV Camera, VCR" device and my camera becomes a part of it when I plug it into the card. Are you certain all capture setups are correct. Most "capture problems" are problems outside of Vegas in the host PC. Onboard firewire for instance can be an issue.

Windows (of all different flavors) sometimes has a tough time initializing he OHCI 1394 card. Often, the only alternative is to turn the computer off completely (power it down), turn off the camera, and then reverse the process (turn on the camera and then the computer). Try that and see if it helps. This may not be Vegas' fault.

SF tech put this in the knowledge base awhile back. It is pretty useful:
How to ensure successful DV Capture and Print to Tape

John

It does not however help with the audio dropout problem. I have never been able to eliminate those. They just appear in different places as flatlines with no apparent pattern. It sometimes takes several re-captures to eliminate them. Most of the time, if I have several nights of the same show, I can edit around them. Others have complained about them as well. The knowledge base seems to point the finger at the sound card, but I don't think that is the problem. Video Capture doesn't flag them. That program only flags video dropouts.