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Best camcorder for use with iMovie 08?

Yes. I have done a search. 🙂

I would like to find a good quality camcorder, preferably hard drive, that I can also use to record directly onto iMovie 08 (like you can with the built-in camera).

Help. Any ideas would be welcome.

Sadly I bought a Sony DCR SR85 60GB HDD Camcorder because my videographer friends told me not to buy anything but a Sony.

I was astounded to find out that I was unable to record directly onto iMovie. Oh well. Further iMovie has to convert the file after it is downloaded from the camera's HD. I'm disappointed. It's on eBay now.



PS: I have now seen the list http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1014#2 Thanks.

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.5.5), 2.2GHz Core 2 Duo 4GB Ram 500GB HD

Posted on Oct 6, 2008 12:42 PM

Reply
6 replies

Oct 6, 2008 4:10 PM in response to ;lkajsdflkaj

I like Canon MUCH better than Sony. Sony is a direct competitor of Apple and as such I think they support Apple with reduced enthusiasm.

Canon makes excellent equipment and their technical support people always seem Macintosh savvy (They were very familiar with iMovie).

I use my Canon with iMovie 06 and iDVD 08. (and occasionally with iMovie 08)

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ProductCatIndexAct&fcategoryid= 173

Oct 7, 2008 4:06 AM in response to ;lkajsdflkaj

You can do that with any FireWire camcorder - well, certainly in iMovie HD 6 and previous ..I haven't tested that in iMovie '08.

Sony aren't really in direct competition with Apple, as Apple don't make camcorders ..and you may remember that the head honcho from Sony burst onto the stage during SJ's MacWorld address the other year (2005..?) and was introduced by Steve as he announced iMovie HD, because Sony was overwhelming happy that iMovie could import hi-def material from Sony's new hi-def Z1 and FX1 cameras. Apple and Sony worked together to ensure that iMovie could handle hi-def video shot with Sony camcorders.

But perhaps I'm not the best person to respond here, as I don't think much of hard disc camcorders; the compression's higher than with miniDV tape, a head crash can mean that you lose your entire discful of video, it's often more finicky to import ..the only time I use a hard disc for recording video is if I use a ' FireStore' piggy-backed onto a miniDV camcorder.

A computer with a spinning hard disc inside is a fragile thing to use as a monitor, if your rig has to be moved: it's only sensible if you're in one fixed spot while you're recording. If I'm shooting with the camcorder on the end of a pole, I just run a video-out cable from the camera to a mini monitor (..or even to video glasses!..) so that I can see what I'm shooting with the remote camera: drop your Mac and you're really in trouble!

To use your Mac as a monitor, you should also first calibrate the Mac's screen so that its colours and brightness ("gamma") match that of the camcorder, otherwise you might adjust the camera to match what you see on the Mac, and end up with over-exposure, or the wrong colours.

So maybe you might rethink why you want to use your Mac as a monitor. And continuous capture to a Mac's internal disc while shooting may put too much strain on the system (..as the Mac will want to do various 'housekeeping' jobs while the video's coming in, such as indexing files, swapping memory to and from disc, etc). It may be better to capture to an external disc ..which Canons don't like to do: they like to be the only FireWire device in the circuit. But as you want to capture to a hard disc camcorder, maybe capture straight onto the Mac isn't what you have in mind.

So, all in all, why not think again about what exactly you want to do, and why. And Sonys work perfectly well with Macs, in my experience..

P.S: Any hi-def camcorder will need to have its video 'converted' during import into iMovie, as hi-def video is severely 'compressed' into a non-editable format, and it has to be uncompressed during import so that it can be edited. That's not just Sony camcorders; that's every type of hi-def. The conversion takes a lot of 'horse-power' during import, so shooting hi-def and simultaneously importing it in real time into iMovie can be difficult.

(..Maybe that's what you're trying to do, as you said "..I was astounded to find out that I was unable to record directly onto iMovie. Oh well. Further iMovie has to convert the file after it is downloaded from the camera's HD. I'm disappointed.." ..all hi-def has to be 'converted', standard-def miniDV tape doesn't, but standard-def AVCHD, as from a hard disc camcorder or a camcorder which records to internal memory chips or onto a miniDVD, does need conversion during import..)

Oct 7, 2008 4:12 AM in response to David Babsky

Right. Everyone has different needs.

I want to record myself, doing educational videos (for web streaming), and see it on the display at the same time. I'm not a videographer and I don't want any extra equipment(like monitors). I don't need to record to the Mac, just to use it as a monitor. Maybe I was unclear on that.

I'd rather not have tapes, monitors, etc. Although I will need to use a lapel mic. Maybe a flash drive cam would be better? I would just use my iSight, but I will need to have something portable for shooting outdoors(without monitor) as well.

Thanks.

Oct 7, 2008 10:30 AM in response to ;lkajsdflkaj

"..I would just use my iSight, but I will need to have something portable for shooting outdoors(without monitor) as well.."

If you'll do some shooting outdoors, and you say that you won't need a monitor for that, then any camcorder will do!

As it's for web streaming you won't need high definition, so for the simplest and fastest importing into iMovie just get a miniDV camcorder with an external mic input. You can keep the tapes for re-editing afterwards if you want to do some variation on, say, Educational Video 1. You won't need to "archive" onto a hard disc the material you've shot, so that you can re-edit it into Educational Video 2 ..just import any bits of tape you need.

"..I'd rather not have tapes, monitors, etc.." ..Oh, well fine; shoot onto "..a flash drive cam.." then.

So use your iSight indoors, and a flash drive cam outdoors. You'll be able to see what you're shooting by looking at the camera's viewfinder screen.

Best camcorder for use with iMovie 08?

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