Hi, Could anyone recommend please a good small camcorder which is compatible with FCP 7?
I have used a larger camera, the Sony Z1 for years and it is still great, but I would like to have something small and portable for traveling, one that records in a format compatible with FCP 7
Would appreciate any advice, as I am not in touch with the latest stuff. I do have an iPhone, but would prefer a compact camcorder.
Thank you for reading this
Pat
FCP7 is (generally speaking) directly compatible with any camcorder recording in the AVCHD format, but only when set to record in 1080i60, 1080p29.97, 1080p23.98 or 720p. It is not compatible with AVCHD material recorded in AVCHD 1080p60 - the format was not standardized when Apple abandoned FCP7.
You ingest the material from the camera media via Log and Transfer, not Log and Capture.
For other tapeless formats, or for ingesting AVCHD 1080p60, you can use a third party convertor such as Edit Ready:
http://www.divergentmedia.com/editready
which will convert the material to Pro Res and you can directly import, and work with, Pro Res files in FCP-7.
You might want to view this tutorial about the tapeless workflow from frequent forum contributor Shane Ross:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhDnyWFAM10
It is hard to recommend any small camcorder, even though the picture quality is really quite good, I find the small viewfinders very difficult to work with. Is is such a subjective thing that you really need to hold it in your hand and shoot some footage to see if you can live with the camera or not.
MtD
FCP7 is (generally speaking) directly compatible with any camcorder recording in the AVCHD format, but only when set to record in 1080i60, 1080p29.97, 1080p23.98 or 720p. It is not compatible with AVCHD material recorded in AVCHD 1080p60 - the format was not standardized when Apple abandoned FCP7.
You ingest the material from the camera media via Log and Transfer, not Log and Capture.
For other tapeless formats, or for ingesting AVCHD 1080p60, you can use a third party convertor such as Edit Ready:
http://www.divergentmedia.com/editready
which will convert the material to Pro Res and you can directly import, and work with, Pro Res files in FCP-7.
You might want to view this tutorial about the tapeless workflow from frequent forum contributor Shane Ross:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhDnyWFAM10
It is hard to recommend any small camcorder, even though the picture quality is really quite good, I find the small viewfinders very difficult to work with. Is is such a subjective thing that you really need to hold it in your hand and shoot some footage to see if you can live with the camera or not.
MtD
Note that you might be relying on EditReady for all of your conversions. Because the last update to FCP 7 is 5 years old...the application itself was discontinued 4.5 years ago. And camera formats are continuing to change. Yes, there is still AVCHD and there has been for years, but there is no AVCHD standard. Every camera maker has their own version of it...and they are updating it all the time. So older formats will work with Log and Transfer, but newer ones might not.
Thank you for your reply and so quickly.
I will look around now for a small Sony Panasonic or Canon camcorder and check well before making a purchase.
Best wishes,
Pat
Thanks Shane. Appreciate your advice.
Pat
Good small camcorder format compatible with FCP 7?
