OpenCV+Python: Firewire Cams not supported on Windows XP?

Question

I'm trying to capture frames from a Firewire Cam (Firefyl MV) using OpenCV 2.3.1 and Python 2.7 on Windows XP.

My example finds the Camera when i use

capture = cv.CaptureFromCAM(-1)

but i cant capture the frames with

frame = cv.QueryFrame(capture)

Here http://opencv.willowgarage.com/documentation/python/highgui_reading_and_writing_images_and_video.html#capturefromcam they write:

Currently two camera interfaces can be used on Windows: Video for Windows (VFW) and Matrox Imaging Library (MIL); and two on Linux: V4L and FireWire (IEEE1394).

So is it not possible to use a Firewire Cam with OpenCV+Python on WinXP? Is there any simple workaround?

Answer 1

Only if the firewire camera maker included a VFW driver. It's also possible to grab data from a DirectShow filter which the camera maker might provide instead