Trying to import dv tape using Canon ZR10, but it's very stuttery

Question

This is my first attempt at importing a dv tape from my (yes very old) Canon ZR10.  But it's not happening; the tape becomes digitalized, stutters and then freezes.  Any help is greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Yes, that IS an old camera. Mine died, and I have a 25 that can't rewind, as well as a 45 and 850 that work great.
But that's beside the point.
ALL of them have difficulty importing unless they are the ONLY FireWire device connected.
Well, not consistently.  But I can only import to the system disk. None of them would import to an external FW drive. The 45 and 850 won't even tolerate a FW drive connected to a second FW400 port, let alone being part of a chain. I think the 850 won't even tolerate a FW drive connected even if it is powered off.
Since my ZR10 no longer works, I can't state emphatically which category it fit, but the simple solution was to disconnect all FW devices except the camera and import to the system drive.
Just to be clear. I could copy the files onto an external FW drive after import and edit them there.  I just can't import to any drive but the system drive with any of my ZR cameras.
Funny thing is, when I upgraded to a new i5 quad iMac last month, it only has ONE FW800 port.  I found that I can connect the ZR45 into the 400 port on the first FW800 drive and it works just fine. It just wouldn't tolerate being chained on a FW400 drive, or connected to the FW400 port on the old computer with my Ext drives connected to the FW800 port. Strange, but at least it works.
Btw. If I recall, the ZR10 can be used as an AV/DV convertor if you have any old VHS tapes to import -- you just can't do it with FCPX. It won't recognize input from a device it can't control. I use QTPro 7, but FCE will work, if you can find a copy. Maybe iMovie would work, and then import iMove events.