Which wire for feeding in video from a Handycam?

My apologies (again) if this is a dumb question... I have an '08 MacBook Pro (where one of the knocks by reviewers was that it didn't many cable and device inputs). I have a bunch of video from Mini-DV tapes that I'd like to start transferring in from my '04 Sony Handycam (model DCR-HC40) and work with it in iMovie or Final Cut. For my previous computer (a Sony Vaio) I used a very expensive orange Firewire-like cable, but the inputs in the MacBook are different.
The camera has several small output holes -- 1) a sort of trapezoidal-shaped port marked with the USB symbol; 2) a square-U shaped port marked with "DV" and that "i"-logo; 3) a semicircular port marked A/V, which I use for sending video into a TV with RCA cables; and 4) a small, round, blue-sheathed hole marked LANC. I know I need to buy a special cable to do this, just not sure what I should ask for and whether I can get it online or have to go to the Mac store. Thanks very much for the help.
Will

Hi Shane
Thank you for your response.
Darn. I was afraid of that. I actually did edit it with the existing footage before I contacted this forum, and of course, was having all sorts of issues. Everything did look ok on the canvas, but rendering was taking forever, very sluggish in general. Also, I was going crazy trying to export it so it would not look squashed or jerky. FINALLY, I think I've got it. In the export, I used qucktime conversion, H.264 compressor, 1280 x 720, ler5 preserve aspect ratio unchecked, used deinterlaced. The end result was fine.
Could you explain the steps for me to convert this footage to DVCPRO HD1089 using compressor? I'm not familiar with that process.
Also, next time, should I just keep my camera's video settings to 1280 x 720? Would this work better with my version of final cut?
Thanks,
Oudlady

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How do I import video from sony handycam

how do I import video from sony handycam?

Mark,
Did you find out how to import your video from sony handycam ?
I have a sony TRV-22E handycam, and have a mini-USB wire.
Do I need to buy a fire-wire or is there a way I can use this mini USB wire to import video into imovies?
Appreciate any help on this !!

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Thank you for the reply.
This makes me sad, of course. When I bought the camcorder 6 months ago I had know real idea what I'd be using it for... just knew I wanted to record family gatherings, etc and have a DVD to watch when I was done. If I had planned ahead a bit more I would have got advice from the message boards first.
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Hi Dale:
Welcome to discussions.
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:)Sue

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Hi jay4,
welcome to the  board
1) iMovie is a video edit app meant to work with firewire connected miniDV camcorders
2) slot-in drives can get damaged by inserting non-standard-size DVDs…
3) disks have to be finalized first, read your camera's manual…
4) DVD uses a delivery format, not meant for any further processing as editing…
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* Apple mpeg2 plugin (20$) + Streamclip (free)
* Cinematize >60$
* Mpeg2Works >25$ + Apple plug-in
* Toast6/7 allows converting to dv/import dvd, hit apple-k
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Which wire for feeding in video from a Handycam?

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