Webcams are commonly linked up through USB ports.

Mini DV

Mini DV video cameras are linked up to computers via FireWire cables. These come in three varieties:

• 4 pin/4 pin
  

  4 pin (left) and 6 pin (right) connectors
• 4 pin/6 pin
• 6 pin/6 pin

Cameras commonly have 4 pin sockets. Computers, however, commonly have 6 pin sockets and laptops sometimes have 4 pin or none!

A laptop with no FireWire ports but a PCMCIA card slot can use a PC card with 2 6-pin FireWire sockets. However, it is more convenient to connect it straight to the computer.

PCMCIA or PC cards