I'm looking for a moderat priced camcorder that is compatiable with the Mac...any suggestions?

Depends what you consider "moderately priced" but I like Panasonic products.

Make sure it is a model in this list:

http://help.apple.com/imovie/cameras/en/index.html

Research the manufacturer's website and stay away from anything that does not specifically indicate iMovie compatibility.

any AVCHD camcorder which fits your budget.

the list mentioned above shows only 'Apple tested' ones - way behind the manufacturer's output 😉

general rules:

• avoid 'exotic' brands
• avoid 'exotic' housings ('car cams', 'dog cams', 'spy cams')
• avoid too-good-to-be-true pricings - buying cheap means buying twice

consider aside camcorders so-called Bridge-cams (I like my Lumix FZ38).-

get any device from Sony, Panasonic, JVC, Canon ......

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

One more thing...

Camcorders that record in 60P do not work in iMovie. So if the camcorder you like has the 60P feature, make sure it also has a 30P setting.

Also, cameras that record "3D" may not work in iMovie.

I was wondering the same thing recently. After much research I decided to buy a Panasonic HC-X900M. One excellent feature of this camera is its compatibility with iMovie while recording at 1080/60p. This is accomplished by an in-camera format conversion process--no additional software needed. It is possible to record on the internal 32GB at 1080/60p and then convert the file to iFrame and copy to an SD card which can then be removed from the camera and imported into iMovie with a card reader. I tried this with several short clips in 1080/60p totalling about three minutes. The conversion only took a couple of minutes and the importing to iMovie 11 on my Macbook Pro was very quick. I might add that I'm about to update my laptop soon, but I am currently using an original Intel Mac almost 7 years old.

I have a history of buying Sony camcorders, but I'm glad I looked further this time. I have searched many forums where software approaches were discussed for format conversion, but I haven't found any discussion of this method. It seems to me that this offers the best of both worlds. You can keep your original footage in the best quality possible and have the capability of using higher-end editing software if later desired, while also offering an easy and quick way of importing into iMovie for editing of more casual projects.