sony dcr-dvd405 problems, need new camera?

Cameras that record on to hard disks are not compatible with iMovie 5 or 6.

Likewise, iMovie 5 or 6 will only accept a DV stream via firewire.

So your camera will never work with iMovie 5 or 6, but may well work with iMovie 7 (part of iLife 8).

For the moment, you need a camera using miniDV tape.

iMovie HD is iMovie 5. Quite old.

Either or both would work! 🙂

Hi kt,

Before you rush out to buy iLife 08 - make sure the camera you have is one that is on the Apple compatibility list. If it isn't, you need a new cam. Also be aware that iMovie 08 is nothing like the iMovie you have. It is very limited in editing tools and should not be considered an "upgrade" from iMovie 06. Also, are you sure you don't have iMovie HD6, because if your MacBook has the 05 version on it, your computer may be too old to load the new iMovie. I know nothing about the Apple line of laptops, so I throw that in just in case you have an older one. Hope all this helps.

I don't know if this thread is still active and the OP probably has moved on...If others with this camera do pick up on this thread though...
I have this camera, and I have a 2008 MBP with the iMovie8 and if you set your recording to 'video' mode before you start recording, you will be able to pull your movies into imovie08. The steps that I have done:
- set the recording mode to 'video'
- record your event with the camera
- finalize the disk in the camera
- start up imovie on the mac
- plug the usb cable between mac and camera
- on the camera, get to the computer connection selection screen and choose the icon on the left
- after a bit of time imovie will ask what you want to do with the connection, just follow the steps. First it will load the thumbnails, that takes a few minutes. Then you are asked to transfer the segments from the camera, this takes many (more) minutes depending on the length of the video on the mini-dvd.
- all the segments show up and you can do what you need to do in imovie.

This thread was active long enough for you to make my day. Just received a DCR-DVD405 and was struggling to get the video to my MBP. THANK YOU!