So im pretty new to linux. I have been posting in the newbie section but it seemed better suited here. What i was wondering was:

A) Can I use my digital camcorder (pv-gs19) in linux, and use some software program to get the video from the tapes onto my computer? I tried to do this in windows, and the camcorder doesnt come with any packaged software, just a driver to download if you dont have xp.
B) Is there a linux program suited for this? I want to try to get it to work in linux because when trying to find a program to get my video off of my camcorder in windows, I couldn't find a free program. Me, thinking it's ridiculous to have to pay for software after buying the camcorder already, would really like to do this for free. Not to mention linux could probably do it better.

I am current using slackware, and the camcorder was the above stated panasonic PV-GS19. I know this is a shot in the dark but ANY help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Note: I probably should have mentioned my understanding level of how to get video from miniDV tapes to my computer is very low. So if there are beginner programs, that would probably be better.

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...ghlight=dvgrab

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...42#post1468042

Kino, is an excellent application with a GUI for capturing, editing, and encoding video from dv cameras. I use it with my camera and couldn't be happier.

The camera can be controlled with the application, to stop, pause, rewind, capture, encode..........

http://www.kinodv.org/

yeah, im still sorting through all the stuff kino needs, having a bit of trouble with some of the required software.. Sorry I'm a newbie to linux and im definately fumbling around slackware. I will give kino a go If i can get the dependencies.