I am doing a 5 day bike ride and need a camcorder that is tiny but takes excellent video because it needs to fit in my cycling shirt back pocket. Any suggestions?http://images.macrumors.com/vb/images/smilies/blackapple.gif
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The best tiny HD camcorder?
- Thread starter harddriveowner
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Try Aiptek
http://www.aiptek.com/
I have their 1080P model and paid about $ 169. very good results for the money on a camera i do not care if it get's tossed around in computer bag etc.
http://www.aiptek.com/
I have their 1080P model and paid about $ 169. very good results for the money on a camera i do not care if it get's tossed around in computer bag etc.
Sony's TG3 (TG1 in the US) is pretty small. Better quality build and pictures than the Aiptek, but at a higher price.
Andrew.
Andrew.
Another vote for the Sony HDR-TG3. The picture quality is much better than the budget HD cams (the Aiptek or the Sanyo). I bought one for my wife and although she is a techhie luddite, she is using it with no problems. It is beautifully screwed together and with a titanium casing, should be tough as well.
One word of warning, AVCHD files are a real problem if like my wife, you are using pre-Intel Mac technology (G5 iMac). There is a program called Voltaic which imports these files onto PowerPC computers for editing on say iMovie or Final Cut Pro but it takes hours and hours to run the conversion. The resulting .mov files from 1080P video are enormous - about 10GB+/hour of video. I have been converting the files to .mov on my Macbook and then putting them on a 2.5" external HD for my wife to watch on her iMac. The quality of the end results on a large full HD TV are stunning for such a tiny camera.
The 4.5 Megapixel still shots from the Sony are OK for snapshots and look fine on screen but will struggle to print much larger than A5. However as I am comparing them with the images taken by my Leica M8, I may be being a bit too fussy.
Wilson
Is there any issue with the Sony TG3 with Final Cut? This Forum is filled with compatibility issues for camcorders. Before I buy it, is there an issue I should know about?
I have been using it perfectly happily with iMovie 08 (on an Intel Macbook and Intel iMac but see my previous post for PowerPC problems). As Final Cut uses the same Cocoa core engine as iMovie, I cannot foresee there being any issues. iMovie will import direct from the camera but it is faster if you use a Sony card reader - one came free with the 16GB ProDuo 2 Memory Stick I bought. iMovie and I would assume Final Cut, convert the AVCHD files into .mov files as it imports them. I must work out how to save them as MPEG4 files to save space but I am not sure if MPEG4 plays full HD. I have now reduced the taking quality on the TG3 to 720P as our UK TV is only HD rather than 1080P Full HD like the one we have in France and my wife will basically be watching the movies in the UK. Amazon seem to be doing the best deals on MS cards and they were also selling genuine Sony batteries at just £23 - about half what other people were asking. As my wife is going on a 600km cycling trip from Saigon to Angkor Wat, I have bought her a couple of spare batteries.
Wilson