ORIGINAL: Craig-RCU
Which_way_is_up,
Did you figure out the firewire/Windows problem? I have Windows XP and have been looking for a "kick around" camera myself and was considering an Elura 100 along with the older ZR models. I downloaded and skimmed through the Elura100 and ZR-100 thru 700 manuals. I don't remember if all the ZR models have firewire. Does your old ZR model have a firewire hookup? If so, maybe it would like your firewire setup better than the Elura. If they both use the same dv tape and format, maybe you could use the ZR just for transfering? Did you try a different firewire card to see if the Elura just didn't like your specific firewire setup? Also, what ZR model do you have? I might be interested in buying it.
Thanks, Craig
Did you figure out the firewire/Windows problem? - No
Does your old ZR model have a firewire hookup? - Yes and it has the same problem.
Did you try a different firewire card - No because I can get XP to see video streaming from the Elura 100. So I'm assuming that the problem is with the Firewire driver(s) within XP that the applications don't like. Just haven't had time with the holidays to investigate the problem any further.
what ZR model do you have? - The original, which was simply called the "ZR". Because of it's age and it's current incompatibility with my XP system I wouldn't try to sell it to anyone. I got the Canon Elura 100 on clearance sale from Office Depot for $227. So you'd be much better off keeping an eye out for a good clearance sale on a new camcorder. Though I'm lucky in that I live in the Dallas area and have lots of stores to work with when it comes to finding good deals.
I'm pretty sure that the problem is not the cameras. I've tested the Elura 100 and cable on an Apple and it worked perfectly. I don't think that it's the firewire card in my computer because XP can see the streaming video from the camcorder and display it on the display. One of the two programs can send control commands to the camcorder successfully but not see the streaming video. So my take on this problem is that there's a problem with the middleware, ie drivers. But not sure that I can figure out how to force a refresh of the firewire drivers into XP to see if that would fix my problem. After the holidays I'm going to call a XP expert friend of mine and see what he thinks.