Sony HDR-CX7 camcorder issues

Hi,
I have a sony Cx7 and I have no problem to use it on a mac book
you may want to check
1- What is your computer ?
2- may reset imovie plist (settings)
3- if still not working to reinstall imovie,
the issue is definitely on the mac side,or what is your memory stick? I have Sony and sandisk but i heard that bad copy of MSpro duo from China led to error and issues
hope this help

HuntnPeck-

Did this work?

I very much want to get this camcorder but fear it being a pain to work with.
I also cannot understand why Final Cut is listing only working with AVCHD on Intel Xenon (Mac Pro) models.

I have the same camera and it works great as well. Have you tried shooting some SD footage to see if that works. As I have a G5 Mac it won't import the AVCHD clips automatically but is does if I film in SD mode.

I also have a HDR-CX7 and I could not figure out how to import videos on my iMac. Did you solve the problem yet ?

Do you have an Intel iMac or PPC (G5 etc). On an Intel iMac it should all work automatically, on a G5 its works perfectly if you put the camera in SD mode instead of HD mode.

I'm in the same situation. Want to buy the HDR-CX7, but if it only transfers SD files to iMovie, why would I need HD camcorder. Anybody has more experience with this device?

It depends if you have an Intel Mac or not, if you have Intel then there is no problem, you can import AVCHD as well as SD video. If you have a G5 or earlier Mac then there is currently no support for AVCHD in iMovie. There is a work around however which is a bit of extra work but it does the job fine. There is a third party product called Voltaic which converts AVCHD files (which you can just copy straight off the memory stick) to Apple AIC format which can then be imported by iMovie and then edited as per normal. So if you want to work with AVCHD you can automatically with an Intel machine or converted with Voltaic on a non Intel or you can use SD (I just put it on the highest quality setting for SD) and import it automatically on both Intel or non-Intel. The current limitation is in iMovie, not the camera and I hope Apple will address this in future updates (G5 support for AVCHD in particular). The Sony software supplied with the camera only works on Windows but it does import AVCHD automically and their editing software can edit AVCHD natively, so the challange at the moment is that iMovie (and Apple generally) are only just starting to support AVCHD and it needs to be converted to an Apple format which at the moment is only available on Intel machines (because I suspect the code they have has been written for Intel and is used by iMovie and their Pro vidoe products and a Universal binary does nto yet exist).

I have Sony HDR CX7 and iMac 08. The import form the handycam worked very well for the first few days.....lately though import of photos works very well, video import is not working. When I start iMovie (08) it doesnot open up the import window like it used to do previously.

I can view the videos on the camera.

Need help with this. Thanks

Message was edited by: Riskyrisk

Thanks for the tip on Voltaic. It works great! After filling up two 4GB memory stick cards I could finally download them. I purchased the HDR-CX7 approximately 1 month ago. After reading your posting I shot some footage in SD as you suggested and it imported just fine into iMovie '08 as quicktime .mov. However, two days later after filming, the footage downloads as .mpeg files and iMovie alerts me that; 'The movie could not be opened. This file is not a movie.' Any idea what I did wrong?

I have the same issue. it worked now it doesn't on both my macs. It worked for a while now they don't. it as if Apple change the software on one of the updates to not work with it any more.

Nick

OK Fixed it. I reformatted the mem card on the camera with the camera utility. And its recognized by imovie.

Nick

I am experiencing similiar problems. How did you reformat the memory card specifically?

The most reliable way which I have found to import HD video from my HDR-CX7 is by using a USB media card reader. I just take the card out of the camera and plug it into the external reader. imovie will then detect the card as a camera and import away. I've had 0 problems using this method. You can get these card readers for next to nothing, and I'd imagine it will remain the best way to get the video off of the camera until it is officially supported by imovie.

As for the question regarding formatting the memory card, just click on the media card icon on the home screen of the CX7 and scroll through the menu until you see format. (it may be on the first screen i don't have the camera in front of me)

I'm seriously considering this camcorder since all my others have failed because of mechanical reasons.

I just installed Final Cut Express 4 which came a out a few days ago, and according to the Apple Site, it says the following:

=====================

URL:
http://www.apple.com/finalcutexpress/#importing

or

http://tinyurl.com/2hxdu7


Importing Video

With Final Cut Express 4, you can edit footage captured in such popular video formats as DV, HDV, and AVCHD. Or export your iMovie ’08 projects, putting professional polish on them in Final Cut Express.

======================

I don't know anything about video, but this seems to me to solve the problem that others have reported. Is this correct?

FWIW - On my digital cameras, I always put the memory card into a card reader and transfer the photos my moving them from the memory card to my laptop. Someone earlier reported that they had consistent results by doing the same for the movies from this camera.

Ira Serkes
ira@berkeleyhomes.com

Camera came in a few hours ago... already shot some video of Las Gatas (not to be confused with Los Gatos)

Transferred files to laptop using a memory card.

Opened newest version of Final Cut Express

The usual suspects (open file, import, etc.) hit a brick wall - couldn't read or identify the file.

Time to RTFM

Searched the Apple Web Site, and found out that "Log and Transfer" is what I need to do (probably means something to video-er-ati, but I'm still at the vidiot stage.)

Worked great on the files I moved over

Hooked up the camera via USB cable

Worked great too!

Red Carpet.... here I come!

Ira Serkes.. thankful for the help