Sony NEX VG10 suddently stopped talking to iMovie - any ideas?

June 2, 2011 4:33 AM

Sony NEX VG10 camcorder. Mac Mini, 2010 version, iMovie 09. Previously, video would import effortlessly (also into my own copy of iMovie 11) but now the device doesn't show up at all when we click the magic iMovie import button. Any clues about changes, bugs, or configuration issues that may be causing it to not appear? (The camera *does* show up as a USB disk, but I don't want to much with the massive files it generates directly - it tells me that the USB interface and cable are okay, though).
posted by davemee to Computers & Internet (2 answers total)

Couple things to try:

1) Make sure all computer software is up to date. This is important (and most likely the problem).

2) See if Sony has released a firmware update for the camera. If so, update the camera.

3) Reboot everything. Really.

4) Try another USB cord (they CAN go bad, although extremely rare).

5) Since the camera comes up on the desktop, try bringing the video files to the HD directly and then importing those files from iMovie.

6) If none of this works, take the computer and the camera to talk to a Apple Genius. Those people are excellent resources.
posted by Murray M at 5:25 AM on June 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks for your ideas, Murray. But no cigar!

Accidentally stumbled on the answer - will place it here for the next person stumped by this.

If you power the camera by battery, USB makes it appear as a mass storage device.

You have to plug it into mains power for it to act as a camera over USB.

Usual Sony stupidity - they always find an asinine way to ruin good hardware.
posted by davemee at 9:46 AM on July 11, 2011