Camcorder: Downloading 8mm video to laptop

I have a SONY (2001) camcorder CCD-TRV98 and 3 cables, white, red and yellow but I cannot download/transfer any of my 8mm family videos to my new laptop. I am told many different things over the phone but they are all different. Can anyone assist me with any specific cable/USB from VGA --- from analog to digital --- an external card reader/ capture card, reader. These are all the various terms they use but I am not sure what to ask for and who to ask. I would not want to order and pay for the wrong things. Thank you, Prez4.

Welcome to Apple Discussions prez4
This forum is dedicated to discussion of the workings of the forums & not for technical questions.
I'm not sure, but I think you are trying to transfer video from your Sony camcorder or another source, ? VHS tape, to iMovie on a Mac notebook. For that type of question, one of the iMovie forums in the iMovie category would be best.
To transfer video from a Sony digital camcorder, Digital 8 or MiniDV tape, you need a 4 to 6 pin FireWire cable. Sony calls this an i-Link & you should be able to find information in the Sony manual.
It is also possible to use a Sony digital camcorder to transfer video from an analog source such as a VHS tape to digital needed by iMovie. I've spent the last weekend doing a lot of this. First, make sure you don't have a tape in the camcorder. Connect the analog source to the camcorder using the red/white/yellow to single plug cable supplied with the camcorder & the 4-6 pin FireWire cable from the camcorder to the Mac. Connect the power cord to the camcorder, don't run on battery power, & turn the camcorder on to "VCR."
You also mention a card reader. I'm not sure how that is related as card readers are generally used for connecting a still camera card to a computer.
When you post a question in any forum, you will help anyone trying to help you by including not only the OS version you are using, but the model of computer & the name & version of any software.

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Camcorder: Downloading 8mm video to laptop

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