On a Canon ZR800 I cannot find the connector cord to the computer

Have you downloaded the drivers for that camera: http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/support/consumer/camcorders/minidv_camcorders/zr800#DriversAndSoftware

Also if it still doesn't work try taking the memorycard out of the camera and reading it using a memory card reader.

download it to the computer

It is your USB cable you will use to transfer your videos from your camera. Connect your camera to your computer. Play the video. As the video begins to play you will select “capture” from the menu (depending on the application you are using to playback the video). Adobe Premiere and Ulead Visual Studio are very good for capturing/downloading videos from camera. The fact is video editing applications are perfect for capturing. Please note Downloading videos from camera is always achievable only by “capturing” and to capture a video you must play it back. You cannot download videos like mp3s by simply copying.

load or reload the drivers for the zr 800,you should be able to get the drivers off of canons website

I don't think you can actually switch off the microphone, but turning the recording volume all the way down should do the trick.

I had this problem when first plugging in my Canon zr80 to my Mac. What I did first was (if you have it) open up the program Imovie in you're applications menu. Then plug the firewire cable into both the camera and computer. Turn the camcorder on and set it to play(VCR). Once this happens you should see a "DV in" on the camcorders screen, followed by a blue window on you're computer. The rest should be easy.

Windows Moviemaker comes with windows. It should be on your machine already just search. If not go to the windows website and download it free here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/updates/moviemaker2.mspx

Greetings reubnick,

Unfortunately, the Canon Z950 only offers transfer to your pc via firewire (Firewire/IEEE 1394 DV Terminal). Therefore your computer would need to have a firewire port.

One other option is to utilize a standalone system to plug your camera in to transfer video. Here an example of one unit: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8470923&productCategoryId=abcat0504007&type=product&tab=1&id=1184768699303#productdetail

I hope this helps!

Dorothy
Go Ahead. Use Us.

Your saying 4 pin USB firewire. Which one is it?

It should be 4 pin firewire.

What is the error message that you are getting?

You cannot connect a DV cable to a USB port. These are two incompatible standards. DV is also called Firewire, iLink or IEEE1394. You PC must have that kind of port for you to transfer your video from the ZR800 and you will need a DV (iLink/Firewire) cable. You cannot use USB cable they will not work. Check www.MyCableMart.com if you want an example. Most new PC come with 1 or 2 iLink/Firewire/1394 port. If you PC does not have an iLink/Firewire/1394 port then you will need to install a iLink/Firewire/1394 card (see http://www.usbfirewire.com/Parts/rr-fw-byt.html) for more information.