How to transfer footage from a Sony CX7 ?

[lintern 1]

My friend has a High Definition Sony CX7, where as I have a Sony PC105.

Whenever I've transfered video from a Standard Definition camcorder I've used firewire.

I also use firewire when transfering to my laptop.

I don't know anything about these new HD camcorders.

If I want to transfer footage from my friends Sony CX7 to my PC105 or laptop can I use firewire ?

How does it work because the CX7 footage is in HD ?

Will it have to convert to SD ?

I am thinking of using Adobe Premiere Elements 4 when transfering onto my laptop.

[PharmerPhil 0]

I don't know about the CX7, but the HDV cameras I have used all have an "i.LINK CONV" option in the menu that let you export SD on your Firewire (which Sony calls "i.Link").

HD is always 16:9 (widescreen), so there is another option called "Down Convert" that lets you choose between exporting using Edge Crop, Squeeze, or Letter box to get your 16:9 video to a 4:3 SD video stream. Using these options you can just go camera to camera using a 4-pin Firewire cable.

I customized my menus on my HDV cams so that these options are on the first page of my menu when in VCR mode.

[DSE 3]

Two ways to Xfer
~Keep the MSPD stick in the cam, put the cam on the dock, and Xfer over USB
~Remove the stick, put it in any card reader that reads MSPD cards (most do), and Xfer via the card reader. This is my preferred method. I always have a stick handy, an extra in my pocket most of the time. For tandems, I hand the stick off to an editor, he dumps and empties the card for me after each jump. Then I've got hard copy of the footage on another HDD, then I format the card before next jump to be sure it's wiped. I don't NEED to do this, it's just a safety margin to prevent me from recording overtime.
You can't Xfer from one AVCHD cam directly to another. There is no AVCHD support in Premiere Elements.
There is no firewire on *any* AVCHD-based camcorder.