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I need a new HD camcorder (questions)

I'm looking at the Canon VIXIA HF G10 -- does anyone know if this camcorder is compatible with iMovie 11. And Canon says it connects with a USB cable but I was under the impression on should use firewire to import movies. Also, if I add SDXC memory cards (there are 2 available slots in the camera), are those compatible with mac? Thanks, all.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8), Safari 5.1

Posted on Aug 31, 2011 12:48 PM

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Posted on Aug 31, 2011 1:45 PM

First you can lookup camera compatibility starting with Apple's own fully tested models here:


http://help.apple.com/imovie/cameras/en/index.html?lang=en_US


Lookup Canon and see if your model appears. When I search I found this entry:


Canon VIXIA HF G10AVCHDHDD / MemoryNTSC

Video stabilization limitations more...

It would appear it is compatible, that it has an internal hard drive or memory card depending on what you want to record to. And if it records to an internal hard drive, then the only way to transfer video recorded to that is via a USB cable as that is the connection the camera comes with. Firewire was used/still used by MiniDV camcorders that record standard def to MiniDV tapes. High Def cams now connect with a USB cable most often.


Re: SDXC card support. You would have to buy a very recent Mac to have an SDXC card slot. You can probably find out if your laptop has it, but if you don't see any SD card slot on your Mac at all it's not going to read an SDXC card without a card reader (which are really cheap, like less than $12 these days). So use your best judgement, and know that your HD footage when it is imported is going to be rather large and take up lots of space on your hard drive. You might also want to buy an external Hard drive when you get the camera so you have room to grow early on.

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Question marked as Best reply

Aug 31, 2011 1:45 PM in response to somewhitechick1

First you can lookup camera compatibility starting with Apple's own fully tested models here:


http://help.apple.com/imovie/cameras/en/index.html?lang=en_US


Lookup Canon and see if your model appears. When I search I found this entry:


Canon VIXIA HF G10AVCHDHDD / MemoryNTSC

Video stabilization limitations more...

It would appear it is compatible, that it has an internal hard drive or memory card depending on what you want to record to. And if it records to an internal hard drive, then the only way to transfer video recorded to that is via a USB cable as that is the connection the camera comes with. Firewire was used/still used by MiniDV camcorders that record standard def to MiniDV tapes. High Def cams now connect with a USB cable most often.


Re: SDXC card support. You would have to buy a very recent Mac to have an SDXC card slot. You can probably find out if your laptop has it, but if you don't see any SD card slot on your Mac at all it's not going to read an SDXC card without a card reader (which are really cheap, like less than $12 these days). So use your best judgement, and know that your HD footage when it is imported is going to be rather large and take up lots of space on your hard drive. You might also want to buy an external Hard drive when you get the camera so you have room to grow early on.

Aug 31, 2011 2:56 PM in response to elikness

Thanks. Very helpful. I did look at the Apple-compatible list previously -- just wasn't sure which format the camera used. A guy at Canon said AVCHD would "stream" into the Mac as .mov files which surprised me. Hopefully, he was correct. I have done a lot of work with video, various camera and editing -- but all on older MBP's (32 bit/2006 model or older) and always using older Canon Mini-DV cameras (or iPhone video.) I now have a fairly new MBP 17" (Jan. 2011) and trust me -- I work in entertainment so I do realize how much space video hogs, especially HD video. You are very right about that! I own quite a number of externals for this very reason 🙂 So that brings me to the SD card slot issue. I'm trying to figure out if I actually have this slot. Would the system profiler tell me? There is a slot on the left hand side of my MBP -- I never noticed this before -- about 1-1.5 inches long -- w/a flap type cover. Hmmm. I wonder if that is an SD slot?

Aug 31, 2011 5:23 PM in response to somewhitechick1

The video will stream in the sense that it is an AVCHD folder archive that Apple will convert as it imports. You also have the option of archiving the AVCHD Folders onto your hard drive, then import from that Archive if you want.


Thanks for the detail info, that slot based on when your laptop was bought is a full SD/SDXC compatible slot. I don't know if you put the card in face up or face down, but don't force it and you'll probably be okay. And you cannot own enough external drives!

I need a new HD camcorder (questions)

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