I bought a Sony cam recorder "handycam" HDR-XR260 with an extended zoom 55x and 8.9 Magapixels. I can watch the footage on TV but I can't download it in iMovie. What do I have to do to watch it on My MacBook Pro?

You forgot to mention what versions of OS X and iMovie you are using.

Is that camera supported?

iMovie 11 - cameras supported:

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

iMovie 9 - cameras supported:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3290?viewlocale=en_US

iMovie 8 Camcorders supported:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1014

Digital camera RAW formats supported by OS X Lion:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4757?viewlocale=en_US

Digital camera RAW formats supported by OS X Snow Leopard:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3825?viewlocale=en_US

I bought the same camera. To my surprise, it is not supported. What can I do to get HD on iMovie? DO I need a 3rd party app? or can I upload it into (something) then transfer it to iMovie? Going on vacation soon, and need any help.. Much appreciated..

sorry, forgot to mention IOS 10.7.4 and iMovie 11

I bought the same camera. To my surprise, it is not supported

Might have been an idea to reverse the process: check what is supported and buy one of those? 🙂

As Klaus1 mentioned above. I have a MBP with Lion and iMovie '11. It imports right into iMovie '11 with no problems. I am on my way out but will try in FCP when I get back later and will let you know.