Dann757 wrote: a port that says microMV
Not sure what that is I'll venture to guess proprietary Sony crap. Firewire is also known as IEEE1394 and Sony calls it I-Link on their mini-dv cams and other devices but they are all the same. Some cams may label it simply DV but that is in regards to the format of video which is DV. Usually cam side you'll have a 4 pin firewire port, your computer will usually have a 6 pin port as such generally you'll need a 4 pin to 6 pin cable to connect it. 6 pin carries a small amount power that can be used to power some devices but since the camcorder has it's own power it's not needed.
It's rare to have firewire on that type of device because they don't need it and USB is better for transfer of data where error control is possible because it is faster. Firewire has a slower transfer rate than USB2 but USB has issues with sustained high bandwidth data transfers and can be troublesome which is why they use firewire with tape cams since it needs to be done real time, there is no buffer or error control. If the data rate drops for even a split second during transfer you'll drop frames. The tortoise and the hare is actually great analogy.
Note that the 4 pin ends and ports look similar to a small USB port:
What I do know is 99.9% of the time you plug a mini-DV cam into a computer, turn it on and you can open about 50 different programs to start transferring it.
It's well established standard supported by everyone.
The camera itself only has that odd c shaped cable port
That might be for a S-Video cable or a proprietary S-Video shaped cable. S-Video only carries video and it's analog. If it's proprietary it can carry all kinds of things but you'll need the right cable. It has a round shape but can look like a C in some configurations:http://www.google.com/images?q=svideo&s ... US249US249
This is USB:
It's the only thin I would use, have you checked manual or menu? As the the Sony directions indicate there might be option in menu...