Panasonic miniDV Camcorder NV-DS30 to PC help needed

MM201

Hi,

I need help transferring MiniDV video tapes from my Panasonic NV-DS30 camcorder to my PC.  I have a dozen home video tapes from about 15 years ago, and would like to turn them into mp4.  I would like to get a proper digital transfer of the tapes, but would settle with analogue capture.

Issues
I no longer have the PC that I used, nor the software, nor the video-out cable to connect it to a TV.  I do have the battery charger, and two batteries, but do not have the power cable that runs from the charger to the Camcorder.  My current PC runs Microsoft Windows 10 and has a Firewire card (PCI Express IEEE 1394a), but have never got it working.

Question 1 (Analogue) - What sort of cable do I need to get the video out to my TV?  I think I need a 3.5mm to yellow/white/red phono.  I've tried a 4-pole cable but I get no video signal and a bad hum from the white phono when I plug it into my amplifier (Yamaha RX-A2060).  If I can get the analogue video out I have an Aplic USB audio/video grabber (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01D9T8E1U/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1) which takes a Composite CVBS input and left and right audio inputs.

Question 2 (Digital) - How do I get the Firewire connection working, and what (free) software do I need to capture the video?  I've downloaded legacy drivers but the "1394 Bus Controller" does not show in the device manager, and nothing changes when I plug the camcorder in with the camcorder set to set to VCR mode.

I'm happy to explore any solution (including Linux).

Thanks,

Marcus

stearman65

Firstly, do you have a modern "smart" TV, if so it very unlikely it will have phono connections?

MM201

Hi Stearman65,

I have an old monitor that has a composite input.  My TV (Panasonic CX802) is connected to my Yamaha amplifier (RX-A2060), which also has phono connections.  The goal is to connect the camcorder to the composite video grabber's input.

MarkE19

This cable should get your miniDV camcorder connected to the TV - CABLE AV FOR Panasonic NV-GS8 NV-DS29 NV-DS30  | eBay

To get a digital connection to the PC you need to have the ieee1393 device showing in Device Manager. If the firewire port is onboard the motherboard then you should just need to get all the motherboard drivers installed then reboot and it should be there.
If a seperate card then Windows 10 should automatically detect it and install the drivers, no additional drivers should be required to get it showing in Device Manager. Try reseating the card or moving it to another slot, or replacing it with a new card as it could be faulty.

WinDV is a free program that allows you to capture footage from a firewire camcorder - Download WinDV 1.2.3

Mark.

MM201

Many thanks Mark.  I've ordered the cable and will try moving the Firewire card to a different slot.

MM201

Update: moving the firewire card to PCIEX1_1 worked, and I can now capture the video using WinDV!  The firewire card didn't work in the other two slots.