No stupid questions, but you could do a little better on "looking through the manual"... I want to the Canon web site and downloaded the manual (my son now has my Elura 60 and its manual):
1) If what you are using is the 16 meg memory card that came with the computer, then yes, getting a memory card with more memory will increase the record time. Most folks don't use that card to store video, though - Store video on miniDV tape. You can do 60-90 minutes (LP-SP setting on your menu) on a miniDV tape. Page 100 in your manual talks about the memory card, video time available, etc...
You can use the USB cable to transfer stuff from/to the memory card. You cannot use the USB cable to transfer stuff from/to the miniDV tape.
2) What Canon did NOT include in the box is a FireWire cable. You need to go buy one. Page 88 talks about this. You need a 4-pin to 6 pin cable. IEEE1394 = FireWire = iLink (Sony and Panasonic). You will use this cable to transfer stuff from/to the miniDV tape.
Since we don't know what kind of computer you are using, we don't know if you have a FireWire port. What kind of computer are you using?
Once you get the video and its associated audio into the computer, you can edit it... and depending on the video editing application you have, you *might* be able to produce short, small, email-able videos. Your camera came with a disc with a video-editng application on it. Have you installed it?
Bill
OK, I might be asking really stupid questions, and if so, I apologize. I have read the owner's manual and I'm just not seeing the answers to my questions.
1. Currently when the camera is in memory card mode, it will only record 10 seconds of video. Is there any way to set the camera to record longer than 10 seconds? Would buying a larger memory increase the record time?
2. I am still not understanding how to transfer from the tapes to the computer. I would like to share some of what I recorded on tape mode via e-mail, is this possible with the 80? When I tried running the software, I found that it wouldn't let me do what I wanted to do. Can someone explain it to me?
Are these answerable questions, or should I call customer support? Or is this information clearly available in the owners manual and I'm just a dummy?!?
Thanks for any help you can offer!
-Allie
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