canon xh-a1s capturing to FCP...

So I'm currently in the process of filming a documentary in Africa and I'm using a canon xh-a1s camera and I plan to edit here with Final Cut Pro 5.1. I've had numerous years of experience editing at work archiving old 16mm films and for pleasure creating short films but no actual training with Final Cut Pro. I also have had no training with the canon camera but I have a fundamental understanding of the filming process and recording what I want to the tapes.

My question is more about how to get the best product out of the tapes and out of final cut pro. Currently when I'm trying to capture footage with a firewire cable from the back of the camera I've had a lot of problems getting FCP to even recognize the camera. I recorded in HD so my capture settings are (DCVPRO HD 1080i50 firewire / DVCPRO HD 1080i50 48hz) but most of the time it doesn't even recognize the footage. Sometimes after capturing a couple seconds at DV NTSC 48hz, I can switch back to HD and FCP will capture it. But even when I do, the footage doesn't really stand out, I'm basically only able to get clips at 480 resolution that I then have to wireframe stretch to even fit the canvas. I mainly want to know how to get the best resolution from my tapes to the editing bay.
Is this something that I should wait 5 months until I'm done here in Africa and go back to a DV tapedeck reader to capture my footage or can I get the optimum from my tapes with the camera? I'm new to the professional video production field so am curious as to how I can get an end product that looks crisp and HD.

Thanks in advance for your time and wisdom