A recent email question came in asking if there was a way to connect a DV Camcorder to a MacBook. As everyone knows the MacBook is missing the FireWire port and only has 2 USB 2.0 ports. After poking around solutions and testing out a few I have to agree with the general consensus that you cannot connect a FireWire based camera using FireWire to USB.

The reason is basically that the two different standards that are not compatible. It is unfortunate that Apple didn't foresee that their MacBook users might be connecting a FireWire camera to their MacBooks, especially since they bundle the MacBook with iMovie and it is targeted at students.

What you can do about it. There is a experimental solution out there using a Pixela PIX-UVCD/U1W converter cable. The only drawback is that it has a converter chip, the PIX-MC20, that creates MPEG video from the DV and it is only for NTSC. Essentially you don't get true DV transfer, but reports claim it works. The other options is to try another capture device called the InterView 3.0 USB video capture. It uses analogue connections but at least you can bridge your camera in and it works with your MacBook. Connecting a USB/FireWire External Hard Drive and using it as a bridge for your Camera does not work.