help finding a decent camera that also does good video

[matthews1492]

You guys possess a wealth of camera knowledge and I'm wondering if anyone can help me out with this question. I'm interested in finding a normal camera (point and shootish) priced from 200-400 dollars that does video too. Currently I have a 3mp sony cybershot that will record video, but I have to convert it after importing it to the computer in order to hear any audio. I'd like to quickly be able to transfer the video to computer and edit it in imovie08, is there a camera out there that will do this without any converting and give decent video quality? Of course it would be nice if the camera took good pictures too , but I'm not super picky. The big thing for me is compactness and ease of use.

Any help would be great, I hope this question is not too amaturish.

Thanks!

[Roy Hobbs]

You guys possess a wealth of camera knowledge and I'm wondering if anyone can help me out with this question. I'm interested in finding a normal camera (point and shootish) priced from 200-400 dollars that does video too. Currently I have a 3mp sony cybershot that will record video, but I have to convert it after importing it to the computer in order to hear any audio. I'd like to quickly be able to transfer the video to computer and edit it in imovie08, is there a camera out there that will do this without any converting and give decent video quality? Of course it would be nice if the camera took good pictures too , but I'm not super picky. The big thing for me is compactness and ease of use.

Any help would be great, I hope this question is not too amaturish.

Thanks!

There isnt a camera that does both well

[Keebler]

the Canon S models (S3, S5) does full 640x480 video....great quality imho as well as being a solid point and shoot camera.

not sure if you'll find a camcorder that does both but those aforementioned cameras are great.

file format is easily brought into imovie from what i remember.

[Grimace]

it sounds like you want a video camera. Movies captured on digital cameras are not easily editable...because of format and low resolution. You generally would not want to play it on a Tv.

[matthews1492]

it sounds like you want a video camera. Movies captured on digital cameras are not easily editable...because of format and low resolution. You generally would not want to play it on a Tv.

A full fledged video camera may be a bit much. I know there will be a quality sacrifice but this is more for just watching on computer or video ipod.

Keebler the Canon S models (S3, S5) does full 640x480 video....great quality imho as well as being a solid point and shoot camera.

not sure if you'll find a camcorder that does both but those aforementioned cameras are great.

file format is easily brought into imovie from what i remember.

Can anyone else confirm if the canon models import video into imovie without any problems? Or perhaps a better question would be, is their any mainstream point and shoots to avoid because their video will not import easily.

Thanks!

[cube]

It's the third thread I see lately asking for the same.

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=378490

[pna]

A full fledged video camera may be a bit much. I know there will be a quality sacrifice but this is more for just watching on computer or video ipod.



Can anyone else confirm if the canon models import video into imovie without any problems? Or perhaps a better question would be, is their any mainstream point and shoots to avoid because their video will not import easily.

Thanks!

My canon a610 generates .avi video files which import just fine into iphoto and imovie. Quality is much lower than a dedicated video camera, but I'm consistently amazed at how good it is for coming from an older point and shoot, and how well it manages to capture some priceless moments. Don't hesitate -- any of the modern canon's will likely be fine for what you're interested in, and will take great pictures as well.

[techie4life]

Just a thought, but check this out. I'm not sure if this is ANYTHING like what you are looking for.

http://www.wolfcamera.com/product/592880033.htm

I actually tested one out today. Pretty impressive.