Canon Vixia HV30, DVR , need driver download

[DaveF59]

I have a Canon Vixia HV30 I bought new, years ago. I can't find the installation cd rom that came with it.

I assume the cd has the driver. 

The HV30  records on DVR tapes. I have the 2 cables, 1 is USB, the other is firewire. 

 I want to transfer my DVR tapes to my Windows 11 PC.  I plugged in the cam to my PC with the USB cable

and the cam is not recognized by my pc. Device Manager does not show it. 

The driver is not available from Canon & I can't find it anywhere online. 

I could buy a fire wire card for my pc, but don't know if that will enable my PC to recognize the camera. 

Thanks for any suggestions. 

Dave

[cabese1871 · Accepted solution]

Hello!

Dave, your USB cable won't transfer video from your Canon Vixia HV30's MiniDV tapes; it's only for photos. You need to purchase and install a FireWire (IEEE 1394a) PCIe card for your Windows 11 PC. Once installed and the camcorder is connected via FireWire and in VCR/Play mode, Windows 11's built-in drivers should recognize it, allowing you to use video capture software like WinDV, OBS Studio, or VLC to transfer your tapes. 

[DaveF59]

You could be right. Per the manual, the mini SD port is for photos only, tape is for video. 

I have a micro SD card & adapter, but it does not fit into the camera slot. Apparently, there was a miniSD card in 2008 . Mini SD cards must be obsolete. I googled miniSD, all I find are micro SD.

I put the camera in SD card mode, but my device manager still doesn't recognize the camera. Maybe it needs a miniSD card in the camera to recognize it.   Tried to test the photo option, to see if device manager will recognize the camera, defeated again with obsolete technology. GRRRRR. Today, I will see if I can find an old pc with firewire port. If not, I will buy the firewire card, $20-25 on AMZ. Thank for your input. 

[DaveF59]

 I don't have an empty card slot on my pc. I don't suppose there is an external version. Either find an old pc with an empty slot or a cheap new pc. 

[shadowsports]

Greetings,

The most cost effective solution is to send your Mini-DV tapes to a conversion service.  It's fast, relatively inexpensive and the most economical.  Don't put yourself through the frustration, cost and burden of trying to figure out how to do it, buying hardware and sourcing software.  

[rs-eos]

If you have a small quantity of tapes to convert, it may be more economical and less frustrating to use a conversion service.  Though if you have a large quantity of footage, that could get costly.

[DaveF59]

Thanks, it will be cheaper to buy a used pc & firewire card. They get $15 a tape I have about 50 tapes. 

[DaveF59]

Thanks, it will be cheaper to buy a used pc & firewire card. They get $15 a tape I have about 50 tapes. 

[shadowsports]

Hi Dave,

The thing people always forget is to place value on their time.  🙂