Capturing into FCP 4.5 with a cheap deck, having problems.
 

I recently bought a Canon ZR500 to use as a deck to interface with my Mac and FCP 4.5. I have been using my Canon XL-1, but am trying to save wear and tear on my primary camera. The ZR500 has Firewire in and out, but FCP will not recognize it. 1. Am I doing something wrong? 2. Is it just too cheap to use as a capture deck? 3. If so, are there any other inexpensive cameras with FireWire (under $500) out there that will give me a deck that will help me capture video into FCP?

I've never had a problem with the connections and recognition with any of the Canon cameras I have used, including lower end ones such as the ZR line, except for when I was trying a few cameras while still running Jaguar. Every one of the cameras in the Canon line that I was not able to use while under Jaguar, were suddently recognized and compatible as soon as I upgraded my OS....go figure.

Anyway, first, I would recommend you fire up iMovie and see if your Canon is recognized with that app. (There are less factors that can go wrong with settings in iMovie). If it is recognized, then perhaps there is just something screwy about the capture settings in FCP. If it is not recognized in iMovie, then perhaps there is a problem with either the firewire cable, or the the firewire port on either your camera or your Mac.

If all is working well, the ZR camera should work fine as a capture deck. The data is just 1's and 0's, so unless something is wrong with the camera itself, it should be adequate for capturing your footage into the Mac.

Good luck.
-Jon

FWIW I am running Panther and I will definitely try that. Thank you for your response. I'll be sure to let you know how it goes. :-)