My mac doesn't recognize my new Canon Vixia HF R600 camcorder, any ideas why?

I have a similar issue. Using macOS 10.12.2 and iMovie 10.1.4, with a Canon VIXIA HF20. This camera is not on the iMovie 10 supported list, as far as I can tell; however, I never directly used any version of iMovie to import from this camera. Instead, I would mount the camera as a drive, then rsync to my computer, then use iMovie to import from the computer (this has the advantage of saving the video someplace in its original format).

The problem now is that this camera no longer mounts as a drive. Nor does its SD card. Previously (before Sierra), both would mount as drives when the camera was in USB mode. Presumably, that is an OS problem, not an iMovie problem.

(Within iMovie, I see the same issue mentioned in a comment above: the camera shows up, but always shows "no clips".)

Oh good gravy. The HF20 has a switch that toggles between using using it for photographs and using it for video. Apparently, if you switch it to "photos", then USB mode works as mentioned above. If you switch to "video", then USB mode magically starts working again (drives mount, iMovie import works, etc.). Yeesh. (This is particularly stupid because, in playback mode on the camera, the setting of that switch doesn't matter at all.)

Did you ever get this resolved? There is so much misinformation floating about and muddying the situation.

the NUMBER ONE thing for Canon Vixia/MacOS clients that ought to be pointed out is the

CONNECTION & LAUNCH ORDER of the camera and software. --I only discovered this after the dizzying ordeal of searching (I want to re-import vids) I went to the Canon site and downloaded their transfer utility.

Upon reading Transfer Utility's instructions a couple of key steps became clear:

1: have camera TURNED ON (BUT UNCONNECTED) IN AVCHD PLAYBACK MODE

2: LAUNCH TRANSFER UTILITY

3: assuming you have already got the usb cable plugged into your Mac -plug it into the camera.

et voila!! this presupposes you've already got the a/c adapter plugged into the camera -Canon is specific about using it during transfer -whether that's a precaution or if it affects the way the camera operates I cannot say. I know 4sure that avchd containers can be irretrievably damaged if interrupted during transfer -even if it's just the battery running out of power because you need the entire hidden file structure contained within the .mts folders.

When I plugged my camera onto the usb cable "Photos" instantly launched and gave me the option to import previously imported video. I have not as yet tried it with iMovie but I suspect that will be the same. At any rate I AM NOT IMPORTING TO PHOTOS but using Pixela/Canon Transfer Utility to put them into my movie folder in full glorious original format.

Hope this saves others from similar frustration.

"WHY" don't the users write the instructions ...I swear with some of these systems and app (Dropbox was the latest) people writing directions have a very narrow view and ignore similarities and differences across multiple platforms .

Cheers "WE DIDN'T GET UP TODAY TO GO WITHOUT!!" xoxo 🙂

Your camera is shown as supported in iMovie 10: Cameras supported by iMovie - Apple Support

but not in iMovie 9: http://help.apple.com/imovie/cameras/en/index.html?lang=en_US

Are you running iMovie 9 (=iMovie '11)?

Geoff.

Actually iMovie 10 requires Mac OS 10.9 or 10.10. if you update the OS you can download iMovie 10 for free and iMovie 9 will still be available to use. iMovie 10 is a big change from iMovie 9 and some capabilities have been removed.

I am nevertheless a little surprised that when you connect your camera via USB that it does not appear as an external drive on your Mac (check in the Finder for a volume probably called "Untitled"). I assume you have read the info that came with your camera that might well include how to connect to a Mac.

Geoff.

I am having a similar problem. I am trying to import video clips from my Canon HF R600 into iMovie. I am able to get iMovie to recognize my camera, but it says there are no clips to import. A second import screen pops up where I can see my Canon camera on the left-hand side where it says "Cameras." The screen on my Canon says USB connection and the rest is a black screen. I am using iMovie 10 and my iMac is the 10.10.5 OS X Yosemite. Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong?

Did you manage to resolve this?

I just got this camera and I managed to get my footage into iMovie relatively easy via a card reader. The folders didn't show the files though. They showed just one video file.

Also when I finish and output, it's at 720p not the 1080p 60 fps that I shot at. And even in imovie it's not sharp footage at all, even though I tested the focus a lot and had face detection too.

I'm wondering if you guys have any tips?

"The folders didn't show the files though. They showed just one video file."

If you recorded in AVCHD you will see what looks like a single file but is actually a package, the contents of which you can see by right clicking > Show Package Contents.

"Also when I finish and output, it's at 720p not the 1080p 60 fps that I shot at."

The resolution of a project is set to the resolution of the first clip put into the timeline. Create a new project and put any known 1080p clip into the timeline then copy all from your original project. It should now be in 1080p. You can then delete that first clip from the project.

Geoff.

I spoke with someone from Canon and he informed me that Macs do not recognize AVCHD format, but a PC would. I idiotically recorded in AVCHD. I recorded some footage in mp4 format as a test and voila, the clips appeared in iMovie for import. I ended up importing all the AVCHD footage onto a PC then Emailed it to myself. I then used Handbrake to convert the files over to a readable format for iMovie. Record in Mp4 for iMovie!

This is incorrect. iMovie does read AVCHD. In fact I used this format exclusively with my Sony NEX 5N with iMovie 10 (before switching to FCP X). I suggest you try importing from the SD card directly on your mac.

You can also right click on the AVCHD bundle > Show package contents and navigate to the STREAM folder from which you can drag and drop your clips into an imovie event pane or project timeline. The AVCHD driectory structiure is as follows:

Geoff.

I find the easiest and fastest way to download from this camcorder is to just pop the memory card out, pop it into a reader, and use the Finder to copy files where you want them.

Same question but on Samsung HMX-F80 with late 2006 OS X 10.7.5.

This camcorder is not shown as compatible with iMovie 9 or 10. If it uses an SD card you can try connecting this to your mac with an SD card reader and copying its entire contents manually to your Mac. You should then be able import from there to iMovie, assuming you are using version 9.

Geoff.