ZR85 How to transfer videos to my iMac running macOS v11.6.2

[kvs2]

I would like to transfer videos from my ZR85 camcorder to my iMac computer with OS 11.6.2.  Can anyone advise on the best way to do this as I have been striking out with proper cables/connectors.  Thanks in advance.

[rs-eos]

Be sure to get the correct thunderbolt adapter to what your Mac needs.  When I last tried to import footage from miniDV tapes, my Mac used Thunderbolt 3.  The Firewire to Thunderbolt cable I got at the time was for Thunderbolt 2, so had to add an additional Thunderbolt 2 to Thunderbolt 3 adapter.

Alas though, this did not work at all.  Thankfully, I already had imported the most important miniDV videos from years earlier on a Mac Pro that had built-in Firewire ports.

Not saying that your setup will fail, but I could not get anything working with Firewire to Thunderbolt cables.

If I ever need to import additional footage, I'll seek out a service.

[kvs2 · Accepted solution]

It’s been awhile since I went on my tear to find what I needed.  I ended up always being short of the cable I needed and gave up.  I tried to avoid paying someone exorbitant fees to transfer my tapes, but agree it’s the only solution at this point.  Thanks so much for your input!!

[srs12]

Thank you so much for this! Yeah, I was worried about buying the TB to FW and TB2 to TB3 and then not working. I actually still have an old MacBook with FW800 port so I'm going to try that. Hopefully it works.