Sony SLT-A55

Thanks, Hugh. Off to Best Buy this PM. I will take the advice and upgrade iMovie. Just haven't needed until now. I knew about overheating/possible damage to sensor, but most of my video I shoot these days is just 1-15 second clips rather than continuous filming so I don't think I'll have a problem. By the way, what SD cards are you using and what format for video? Didn't realize IDVD only used SD.

Picked it up at BB today. Sale price $799, but I had a coupon for 10% off. Couldn't use it on sale items, but they would apply it to the non-sale price, $850, so I got it for $765. Picked up a SanDisk Extreme Pro 16GB and got 20% off since I bought the camera, too. Big chunk o' change, but still not a bad deal. Don't know what a class 6 card is but this says UHC Speed Class 1. Is that what you were referring to? Charging battery now while I read manual and try to learn how to use it. I'll shoot some test footage and see how the import goes. And thanks for the tip about using the built-in SD card reader on the Mac. Had it for 2 years and never knew it was there! Plugged in a card from one of my kid's camera, and bingo. I had even bought a tiny USB card reader for those few times I imported their pics. Thanks again. I'll post the results of my experiments later.

OK, played around a little but still confused. I'm OK getting the stills off the card, but I can't figure out how to import video. Here is the directory of my card:

Here is the directory with all folders opened:

I thought the video was supposed to be in the MP_ROOT folder but there is nothing there. The DCIM holder has the stills. I shot 2 video clips, each no more than 10 seconds. I can't get anything to play nor can I import anything into iMovie (iMovie>File>Import>Movies then tried selecting all the folders and all the files one at a time and got nothing that iMovie could open). Tried opening all the files w/ QuickTime, nothing doing. I did double click on the files w/ the .BDM extension and when they wouldn't open, the dialog box asked which app to use to open them and I chose QuickTime. That's why the file type says QuickTime Player Document.

What do I do now? Going to reformat the card and delete all the stuff and record some more so I might see where the video files are stashed. Any more help would be appreciated.

I did some further experimenting. Instead of removing the SD card and inserting it in the Mac's reader slot, I connected the camera to the Mac w/ the USB cable and opened iMovie. File>Import from camera, and my video clips appeared. Don't know why I couldn't pull them straight off the SD card, but at least I am able to get them into iMovie. I'm happy. Still would prefer to take them right off the card so I won't have to be tethered to the camera. If anyone can help me out, chime in. Thanks, Hugh. I think I made a good choice after reading your posts.

Hugh: Maybe my mistake was because after plugging in the SD card and opening iMovie, I clicked File>Import From> and tried to select a folder or file from the SD card directory rather than From Camera. Maybe iMovie sees the card as the camera. I'll try again but if it doesn't import it straight from the card I'll just have to hook the camera up to the Mac and import it that way. Also need to upgrade iMovie. Many thanks for helping me with my purchase. Now I just have to learn how to use the camera. Alaskan cruise next week.

That was it: card in, iMovie opened, File>Import From Camera. Clips imported. I'm happy.