Comments

John_Cline wrote on 2/16/2008, 11:35 PM
Well, no, USB2 isn't as fast as Firewire in the "real world." USB2 uses the CPU to negotiate the transfers, Firewire doesn't. Also, most camcorders only output low quality "webcam" video through their USB ports, i.e. 320x240.
bStro wrote on 2/17/2008, 7:34 AM
What device(s) are you trying to capture from? Most camcorders don't send video out through a USB port. (Those that have USB ports, USB is used to retrieve still images, not video. And those that do send video usually do so, as John said, in a very low resolution.)

Most other video-related devices with USB ports either store their content as already encoded files (generally MPEG2, but sometimes MPEG4 or a proprietary version of either one) that can just be transfered by copying the file (a la Windows Explorer).

Finally, there are encoding boxes which accept input from a video source, encode the content internally, and send the encoded files to the computer by USB. But most of those all depend on proprietary software you would have received with the box.

So...which, if any of these, applies to your situation?

Rob
blk_diesel wrote on 2/17/2008, 8:25 AM
I have a firewire connection, but I was just curious. What prompted my question is that my sister recently borrowed my GL-1 to shoot her daughter's birthday party and wanted to capture it to her computer, she does not have firewire. I was trying to avoid having to capture it to my external hd and transferring it to her computer.
bStro wrote on 2/17/2008, 4:58 PM
According to the Wiki page for this camera, the GL1's USB port is only for retrieving still images.

Rob
blink3times wrote on 2/17/2008, 6:12 PM
she does not have firewire.

She can always get a firewire card.... they're pretty cheap.

If it's a laptop without firewire, there are ways around that too. I have the Audidgy2zs Video editor which is just great for laptops... external 5.1 sound card, video outputs as well as inputs including Svid, optical audio inputs/outputs, 4 port usb hub, firewire connect, mic connect... all housed in one neat little box, and it connects to your laptop with one usb cable:

http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=205&product=11226

I know that Canopus also sells some really great external firewire to usb capture devices as well.
Chienworks wrote on 2/17/2008, 8:38 PM
I picked up a 2-port pcmcia firewire card at Newegg.com for $5 with free shipping. For my desktop i got an IDE 4-port firewire card for $12 with free shipping.
Tinle wrote on 2/18/2008, 6:15 AM
Given some of the stories about potentials for damage to camera firewire ports (and resultant repair costs), I would prefer not to have someone unfamiliar with my camera do a firewire transfer. For my(imaginary) sister and niece, I think I'd offer to do the transfer myself for them.

blk_diesel wrote on 2/18/2008, 9:18 AM
I'm going to do the transfer. I was trying to get around capturing it to my hard drive and then transferring it to her laptop. She wants to play around with editing and adding effects to the video.