I want to buy a used 8mm camcorder that has firewire connection so I can upload my 8mm movies to my mac. computer. I think Sony's TRV350 has such a connector

You will need an analogue to digital converter box. You connect the camera to the converter box with analogue cables and connect the A/D box to the PC with a firewire cable.
Note: Many mini DV cameras with analogue inputs can act as an A/D Converter box.

How to load Mini DVD to Mac

• Though Mini DVD can not be played back in Mac slot loading player, we have other ways to load Mini DVD to Mac.
• Method 1 If Mini DVD camcorder has FireWire or USB; just connect the Mini DVD camcorder to Mac using FireWire, or USB to load Mini DVD to Mac.
• Method 2 If Mini DVD camcorder has not FireWire or USB; just shop for external mini-DVD drive that uses either a USB or Firewire connector cable, and then connect the external mini-DVD drive to your Mac and install any extra software that came with it. Insert the mini-DVD into the external drive, and then access the files on the mini-DVD as you normally would to load Mini DVD to Mac.
• Method 3 If Mini DVD camcorder has not FireWire or USB; buy an adapter that converts a mini-DVD to a normal DVD by adding on a circular plastic piece that emulates the full size of a regular DVD. Attach the adapter to the mini-DVD and load it into the Mac's DVD drive to access the files. (Check the specifications of the adapter before purchasing, as several on the market do not work in vertical-loading drives like those found on the MacBook Pro.)
• Method 4 If Mini DVD camcorder has not FireWire or USB and you don't want to buy a separate external drive or full-size adapter either, but you do have access to a PC, you can transfer the files on the mini-DVD onto the PC, then put them onto a USB flash drive, which will work on your Mac.

more detailed at http://www.bigasoft.com/articles/easy-solution-to-import-midi-dvd-into-imovie.html

The only way to do that is to play it in a device that plays Hi8 tapes and somehow converts it to a digital signal (likely through firewire as DV), then capture it to your computer just like a digital camcorder.

There are several ways:
1. Buy a device (like a camera) that plays it, output through RCA cables to your other camera or tape deck that is digital through the line in, and then just record that. (Alternatively, you could put that signal into a DVD-R machine and record onto a DVD, then just copy the files off the DVD, if you don't have a way to capture DV through firewire.)
2. Buy a device that plays Digital8 (same tapes, but miniDV FORMAT) and output directly from the tape through firewire. This means you must buy a SONY (only brand that made [now discontinued] Digital8) camcorder or deck [if decks were made, though those are usually expensive].

So, the simple answer: get a Digital8 camera and capture, or get another digital camcorder and a Hi8 camcorder and play through the digital one into the computer.

Buying a Sony Handycam (OLDER model) will be your easiest option, and probably possible on ebay, etc., for $100-$200.


Short of this, you could look to a friend or a professional solution for just getting the tape copied (like VHS->DVD services exist, there is probably some place you can mail your tape to).

EDIT: I should add: You included "8mm" in your title-- that is a bit confusing. 8mm refers to a few formats. One is film (obviously not what you're referring to), but then there is the older "8mm" tape format; it's like Hi8, but I believe it's actually not the same tape-- unlike Digital8 and Hi8which share a physical medium. I don't think you can get an 8mm -> Digital device, so you'd need to go through the RCA cables, as described above. [And though Hi8 is actually 8mm in width, it's not quite the same as the other "8mm" format... for whatever odd reason someone decided.... ]
However, I suspect you ARE actually working with Hi8, so this shouldn't be a problem.

You may not be useing a firewire cable, note a USB cable connection will not download movies, the firewire will cost around £10 from Maplins, Currys, PC World type shops okay, good luck with the movie making.

use video capture usb connection like WINVAR 950
connect one side to the camera and the usb to the mac
and
download

i will give you a step by step on your camcorder.

• connect your camcorder using your USB cable to your computer and be sure it is ON
• Install the cd driver camed with your camcorder. if you didnt prompt on looking for a driver then go to the add hardware on the control panel and follow the procedure there.
• after the installation you should see the icon on the my computer labeled scanners and cameras and indicating the model of your camcorder.
• Install Ulead Power Producer or any editing movie that you have like Windows movie maker, nero movier maker etc.. i prefer to use Ulead because its so easy to use
• after uploading and editing your videos using ULEAD save it on any various types of videos that you like. you should see it after you want to save it.
• burn your videos on NERO software

Hope you understand my procedures. Good Luck!

CHARCOIS

http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-list.pl?mdl=DCRTRV350&LOC=3

you say you tried to update driver , tried as in you didn't succeed in getting the update driver ?

i noticed at the sony site they have vista drivers for the dcr-trv350 , here is the link . thanks.

Please replace the Port-Connector of camera.

I have a TRV730, and on this camera the USB port on the camera only reads files from the memory stick. (Set the camera mode switch to "memory", and the Mac will display the contents within about 20 seconds.) Same as any digital camera.

Video in/out is only done through the firewire (iSight) port. You need to buy a 4-pin/6-pin firewire cable. Good ones are $25 or so, cheap ones can be had for $5 or less but you take your chances with those. (Can anyone explain why Sony includes a useless 4-pin/4-pin iSight cable with the camera??)

What's cool about the Digital8 cameras is that you can put in an old analog (Hi8) tape and output a digital signal to the Mac.

Can't be 100% certain of this, but I'd bet your camera is similarly configured. Squeezing video through the USB port would be painfully slow anyway.

Yes, you can capture camcorder video from a miniDV camcorder using a FireWire cable and video capture software. Your computer came pre-installed with Windows Movie Maker, or iMovie (if you are on a Mac).

FireWire, IEEE 1394 and iLink are all the same thing. There are 4 and 6 pin FireWire cords. My guess is that you need a 4pin to connect to your camcorder and a 6 pin to connect to your computer. But it all depends on what ports you have available.

You can get a FireWire cord for less than $10 at most computer electronics stores

Check out this FireWire guide for more information:
http://www.stashspace.com/video-editing/firewire-guide.stm