Mac Mini (late 2009) I believe is incompatible with the Canon zr830 mini DV camcorder?

The Canon ZR830 has a IEEE 1394 (4-pin) FireWire port. Your Mac mini has a 9-pin FireWire 800 port. FireWire 400 devices use a 6-pin or 4-pin connector while FireWire 800 devices use a 9-pin connector. Existing FireWire 400 devices can be plugged into either type of port with the appropriate cable. Thus you would need a 9-pin to 4-pin FireWire 800 - FireWire 400 cable (also known as a Bilingual cable).