<p>I've had to transfer many older formats to a PC.</p>

<p>I've found the best way is to get a TV tuner card for the PC and connect through that. (if the camera has a video out RCA type connector)  The card will usually come with some sort of software for capturing a signal.  The signal can usually come in via normal RCA type video/audio connectors and if not, you can always hook the camera up to an older VCR and then hook the output RF cable to the tuner card. (Sort of a cluster, but it works)</p>

<p>In your case, you could find an 8 pin to 4 pin firewire cable.  (The 4 pin is what the 'DV' output on the camera is)  The computer would then need the larger 8 pin firewire input on it.  This would allow the input of both the video and audio of the tape.</p>

<p>Example card you could use:  (this card has 8 pin and 4 pin inputs so you could go with either 8pin to 4pin cable or 4pin to 4pin cable)</p>

<p><a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815283029&amp;ignorebbr=1&amp;nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC&amp;cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC-_-pla-_-Add-On+Cards-_-N82E16815283029&amp;gclid=CjwKEAiA48fDBRDJ24_imejhwUkSJAAr0M5kmWujjnw3dRZE1dYFEfOInwW4d-IpZqXnue0az7FZsRoCcRDw_wcB&amp;gclsrc=aw.ds" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815283029&amp;ignorebbr=1&amp;nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC&amp;cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC-<em>-pla-</em>-Add-On+Cards-_-N82E16815283029&amp;gclid=CjwKEAiA48fDBRDJ24_imejhwUkSJAAr0M5kmWujjnw3dRZE1dYFEfOInwW4d-IpZqXnue0az7FZsRoCcRDw_wcB&amp;gclsrc=aw.ds</a></p>

<p>The USB connector on those cameras were more for transferring the still pictures that the camera would take.  Even then the USB on those cameras was a crap shoot about if it would actually work.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-01-09T09:58:48.083Z
Thanks Joe. As you mentioned, I'll go with the Firewire card solution. My plan: • Dig up an old dual-core PC • Install Windows 10 (I'm hoping it will work without a product key); • Install a Firewire card; • Enable firewire port if needed (see link below); • Connect camcorder and see what happens. With any luck there's some built-in software that will detect the camcorder. Otherwise I'll get WinDV or some such. Unfortunately I'm on the road now and won't do any of this until early Feb. Stand by... [ Enable firewire port on Win 10: https://www.studio1productions.com/Articles/Firewire-1.htm ]
DSherman
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-03T03:11:40.437Z
I was successful in transferring my videos. My process: Old dual-core PC • upgraded to Windows 10 w/o product key • installed Firewire card (US$12 on Amazon) • enabled firewire port (see my  previous note for link) • installed Windows Live Movie Maker (no longer available from MS, luckily had a downloaded exe on another machine) • used a Firewire 4-pin to 6-pin cable to attach camcorder to PC. Finally, my old miniDV videos have been converted. This would have been so much easier if there was some easy-to-find Win10-compatible Firewire-to-USB converter.
DSherman
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-06T03:23:57.277Z
One final comment: Windows Live Movie Maker is probably not necessary. It looks like the video capture functionality is built in to one of the Windows 10 native picture viewing applications. This simplifies things a bit.
DSherman
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-01-08T14:32:35.093Z
2017-01-08T14:32:35.093Z
Joe
<p>I have a bunch of old MiniDV tapes taken with a long-dead camcorder. I recently bought a used JVC GR-D200U on eBay, but I can't figure out how to transfer videos from the camcorder to my PC. The instructions to connect to a PC are on page 66 of the <a href="http://resources.jvc.com/Resources/00/00/96/LYT1171-001C.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">user manual</a>, but these seem to be outdated because a direct USB link just doesn't seem to work and I'm not sure how to make the "DV" link. <a href="https://i.sstatic.net/cr9GY.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Here</a> is a picture of the two ports available on my camcorder. Can someone tell me what wires/connectors/software I would need to make the connection and start capturing videos. For the record, my PC is new -- Windows 10, I7/6700, 16GB memory -- but does not have any ports beyond the basic HDMI/USB3/Network. Many thanks!</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-01-08T08:13:33.743Z
possibly a USB converter? Can't you also use an SD card reader (xfr to card in cam, read off card w/card reader on cpu)
MmmHmm
<camcorder>
How to get MiniDV video from old JVC camcorder
DSherman
# How to get MiniDV video from old JVC camcorder

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-01-08)

I have a bunch of old MiniDV tapes taken with a long-dead camcorder. I recently bought a used JVC GR-D200U on eBay, but I can't figure out how to transfer videos from the camcorder to my PC. The instructions to connect to a PC are on page 66 of the [user manual](http://resources.jvc.com/Resources/00/00/96/LYT1171-001C.pdf), but these seem to be outdated because a direct USB link just doesn't seem to work and I'm not sure how to make the "DV" link. [Here](https://i.sstatic.net/cr9GY.jpg) is a picture of the two ports available on my camcorder. Can someone tell me what wires/connectors/software I would need to make the connection and start capturing videos. For the record, my PC is new -- Windows 10, I7/6700, 16GB memory -- but does not have any ports beyond the basic HDMI/USB3/Network. Many thanks!

**Tags:** camcorder

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: possibly a USB converter? Can't you also use an SD card reader (xfr to card in cam, read off card w/card reader on cpu)  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2017-01-08. Score: 0 | Accepted answer

I've had to transfer many older formats to a PC.

I've found the best way is to get a TV tuner card for the PC and connect through that. (if the camera has a video out RCA type connector) The card will usually come with some sort of software for capturing a signal. The signal can usually come in via normal RCA type video/audio connectors and if not, you can always hook the camera up to an older VCR and then hook the output RF cable to the tuner card. (Sort of a cluster, but it works)

In your case, you could find an 8 pin to 4 pin firewire cable. (The 4 pin is what the 'DV' output on the camera is) The computer would then need the larger 8 pin firewire input on it. This would allow the input of both the video and audio of the tape.

Example card you could use: (this card has 8 pin and 4 pin inputs so you could go with either 8pin to 4pin cable or 4pin to 4pin cable)

[http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815283029&ignorebbr=1&nm\_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC&cm\_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC-*-pla-*-Add-On+Cards-\_-N82E16815283029&gclid=CjwKEAiA48fDBRDJ24\_imejhwUkSJAAr0M5kmWujjnw3dRZE1dYFEfOInwW4d-IpZqXnue0az7FZsRoCcRDw\_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds](http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815283029&ignorebbr=1&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC-_-pla-_-Add-On+Cards-_-N82E16815283029&gclid=CjwKEAiA48fDBRDJ24_imejhwUkSJAAr0M5kmWujjnw3dRZE1dYFEfOInwW4d-IpZqXnue0az7FZsRoCcRDw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds)

The USB connector on those cameras were more for transferring the still pictures that the camera would take. Even then the USB on those cameras was a crap shoot about if it would actually work.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thanks username_2. As you mentioned, I'll go with the Firewire card solution. My plan: • Dig up an old dual-core PC • Install Windows 10 (I'm hoping it will work without a product key); • Install a Firewire card; • Enable firewire port if needed (see link below); • Connect camcorder and see what happens. With any luck there's some built-in software that will detect the camcorder. Otherwise I'll get WinDV or some such. Unfortunately I'm on the road now and won't do any of this until early Feb. Stand by... [ Enable firewire port on Win 10: https://www.studio1productions.com/Articles/Firewire-1.htm ]  
> **username_0**: I was successful in transferring my videos. My process: Old dual-core PC • upgraded to Windows 10 w/o product key • installed Firewire card (US$12 on Amazon) • enabled firewire port (see my  previous note for link) • installed Windows Live Movie Maker (no longer available from MS, luckily had a downloaded exe on another machine) • used a Firewire 4-pin to 6-pin cable to attach camcorder to PC. Finally, my old miniDV videos have been converted. This would have been so much easier if there was some easy-to-find Win10-compatible Firewire-to-USB converter.  
> **username_0**: One final comment: Windows Live Movie Maker is probably not necessary. It looks like the video capture functionality is built in to one of the Windows 10 native picture viewing applications. This simplifies things a bit.  

---

