Help!! Can not connect my Sharp ViewCam Z VL-Z3U Through FireWire
Hello All,
I am having serious problems connecting my Sharp VL-Z3U using firewire. My Sharp VL-Z3U did not come with a firewire cable so I went ahead and bought an IEE1394 firewire card. The card came with a firewire cable too. The card installed ok on my computer without any problems. It also came with Ulead Movie software. I installed the software and it asked me to connect my camcorder in with the firewire card so that it can install the appropriate drivers. I connected the camcorder with firewire card (with camcorder off, the usual camcorder setting for USB connecting) but Ulead did not detect it. Now, I am not sure what to do. I really need to download the movie on my computer but this damn thing is not working. The firewire card is working fine (as per the status from window's device manager). Does anyone have any clues ??
I would really appreciate your help.
dirver problem
You've probably fixed this by now, but since nothing is posted:
I have an older Sharp digital camcorder, one of the first. It's the VL-NZ100 and Sharp does not support transferring the video to a PC with this camcorder because they did not include the cable to do it. That said, I WAS told by Sharp that I could figure it out myself if I got a fireware (IEEE) cable.
I got a very inexpensive IEEE-1394 firewire cable, set my camcorder to Tape/VCR, connected the cable to my PC and my camcorder, and Windows Vista recognized it. It asked if I wanted to transfer the video and it just walked me through the whole thing! This is built in to Vista, so if you have the operating system, you are set.
If you don't, I don't know if you can download Windows Photo Gallery from Microsoft. I know that you can download Windows Live Photo Gallery but I don't know if that has the same functionality. You didn't mention what operating system you have.
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The simplest solution is to use a FireWire cable connected between camera DV output and FireWire PC Input. If your PC or laptop do not has a FireWire Input, you can use an USB capture device like EasyCap connected to your PC by USB interface and to your Camcorder by RCA connector or S-Video connector.
This type of camera usually downloads better with a Firewire (DV) connection. Some mini-DV cameras only use the USB connection for stills (if they have one) and can only download video by Firewire. This is because you have to play the tape into the computer, not just copy a file.
Most PCs have a USB port, but no Firewire port. Macs often have a Firewire port but may not have USB. As most Windows PCs do not come with this interface, you might need to fit an add-on Firewire interface card. This will come with a driver for the card.
Suitable Firewire (DV) cables can usually be found on Amazon or eBay. Try a search on your camera model number. Most cameras need the kind with a small (four pin) connector at one end and a larger (six pin) connector at the other.
I had this problem too.
I searched the web high and low. Even wasted 2.99 on what claimed was the driver but turned out to only be instalation directions.
From what I understand, Sharp no longer supports camcorders, so obtaining the dirver from them is out of the question.
Connecting your camcorder to your computer via USB is only used to transfer photos from your SD on your camcorder. You cannot transfer video via this method.
Here`s what I did to solve the problem of not having the driver.
I got a $10 SD card reader for my computer and this solved the problem.
To transfer video from your VL-Z3U to your computer, all you need is a firewire cable .
Assuming that you have a firewire port on your computer, simply connect your camcorder to your computer via firewire, power up your camcorder and your computer should automaticly recognize your device.
You can now transfer video to your computer using your normal video capture/editing software.
You may need what's called a 'firewire' port, which was the transfer port of choice for most DV models of the time.
My contact at the local RadioShack advised me that a DV-to-USB cable might work to allow transfers since firewire isn't really supported these days. I've not tested it myself though. The cable should cost less than $20.00... and if you're careful with the packaging, you could always return it if it proves useless.
HOWEVER, this is what you may need to allow correct transfer from the cam to the laptop:
This camera appears to be firewire only, according to the comparison chart on sharp's website: http://sharp-world.com/products/viewcam/compare2003.html
They call it iLink, which is Sony's term for iEE1394, Firewire is Apple's term for it.
To transfer video you need to use firewire, not usb. If you use firewire to connect, set the camera to the 'play' icon and then open up a capture program (ie, movie maker) you should be able to just record/capture from there. Good luck!
the firewire cable is available at the computer shop when you buy a ee1394 card...the av cable i know is included on the camera kit when you the camera.. if not included then try to the authorized dealer of sharp..
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