How do I activate a camera for my mac?

Mac/firewire/DV Camera trouble?

• well.... I make home videos from my DV Camera followed by putting them onto my oldish mac desktop which is about 5/6 years old. Finally Editing them on Movie HD 6. When I plugged in my camera with my fire wire cable it said nothing was connected. It said that on Imovie HD and on the mac itself. So my family friend computer whizz came up and brought his camera/his fire wire/ his mac book pro. He plugged his camera and his fire wire into my old mac and it recognised it. He un plugged his camera and plugged my camera in using his fire wire, Nothing was connected, He tried his camera with my fire wire, "Nothing was connected". So then again he tried his camera with his fire wire cable that had previously worked. "Nothing was connected" We wanted to see whether my macs ports were broken so we linked a wire between my fire wire port and his and it transferred the documents we asked it to. It is sooooo Confusing!!! We tried all of those combinations on his laptop and not one of them was recognised. The thing that I am worried it could be is that maybe my mac breaks all fire wire ports that you plug into it? If this is the case how much would it cost to be fixed? Thanks. And if you don't know please don't just guess. Thank you :)

• Answer:

  "He plugged his camera and his fire wire into my old mac and it recognised it" and "linked a wire between my fire wire port and his and it transferred the documents we asked it to" means your Mac's firewire port is fine and it is the camcorder's DV port that is the problem. If you had been plugging/unplugging your camcorder's DV port when the camcorder and Mac is on, then it is possible the camcorder's DV port was fried. Repair (expensive)... or replace the camcorder. You did not tell us which camcorder - usually it is most appropriate for the manufacturer to repair. Contact the manufacturer for an estimate.