Camcorder Issues

luvskot said:

I’ve searched the forums for an answer to this question, but most of what I’ve found is older information. I want to buy a Sony HDR cx260v camcorder, but from what I’ve read, it’s not a “mac friendly” camera. I’m not entirely sure what that means, other than it’s not compatible with iMovie, which means there may be issues with a Mac recognizing the files, and a Mac’s ability to process high definition video. I got this from a post that a fellow made in the review section at Amazon, which completely confused me.

So I did some research online and found the iMovie ‘11 Supported Cameras webpage. When I plugged in the info for the camera I want I found these messages:

iMovie does not support footage recorded in 1080-60p from this Camcorder
Requires Mac OS X v10.6.7
and
The AVCHD recording modes in Sony-model digital still cameras and camcorders have changed in 2011 from previous models. New Sony cameras require Mac OS X v10.6.7 or later to import AVCHD video properly.

This implies that any past problems would be solved by using Mac OS X v10.6.7 or later. I have v10.7.5, I believe. So based on all that, I have a few questions.
One, does OS X Lion or Mountain Lion solve past compatibility issues?
Two, would using a firewire cable help?
Three, are there any iMovie compatible camcorders out there? I not that into intensive video editing, but if I’m going to buy an HD camera, I certainly want to watch it in HD.

Thanks!

Here’s the link to the iMovie ‘11 Supported Cameras webpage:

http://help.apple.com/imovie/cameras/en/index.html?lang=en_US

Click to expand...

To get movies and photos onto my Mac, I have several methods.

1) Photostream. As my iPhone is my primary camera, I rely heavily on Photostream to get originals to my Mac. I set it to auto-create events for each month's photos. I then export them and re-import them. I do this to move originals out of iPhoto Library to my external FW hard drive. I then back them up to a Synology network drive. I upload them to Smugmug for off site backup. I re-import them to iPhoto, with "copy originals to iPhoto Library" switched off so my iPhoto library stays under 10 gig even though it has metadata for over 200 gig worth of photos.

2) Image Capture. To get movies off my iPhone, I use Image capture. I prefer that these never go to iPhoto in the first place. When iOS 6 comes out, I'll need to be more proactive about deleting stuff from iPhoto as movies make iPhoto Library bloat up very quickly.

3) Finder. When I use an SD card for photos (on my DSLR), I pop the SD card into my Macbook and copy the photos to my external FW drive. I later import them to iPhoto as well as back them up to Synology NAS drive and Smugmug.

4) Eyefi. On my point and shoot digicam, I allow Eyefi to upload my photos directly to my external FW drive. Once a month or so, I copy them to my Synology NAS as well as import them to iPhoto.

Notice a common thread? I back everything up. At least twice. I never allow iPhoto to have my only copy of anything. BTW, I never touch iTunes. Now that iCloud is up and running, I haven't even launched iTunes in many months.

You should be able to use a FW cable to get photos off ANY brand of camera to your Mac and then there are PLENTY of software options available (if you need) to convert them to a format iPhoto or iMovie understands. One I use often is Handbrake. It's most commonly used to rip DVDs but it is also quite capable of transcoding from just about any format to just about any format.

Could it be that youtube hasnt finished rendering your video, which is why it looks so bad? Maybe it will be ok after a day or so?

Any New Info re this issue

I realize this is an old thread, but I have EXACTLY the same question and I would like to know if the OP can in fact use the HD format on this camcorder with a Mac and IMovie. He seemed to suggest that everything was fine and that the new mac os must have solved the problem, however, i cannot find anything on the net to confirm that this is the case. I too have the most recent version of Mountain Lion and IMovie 11. The local future shop has a sale on 2012 Sony camcorders. I would like to purchase the 260V model as dId the OP, but I am also confused as to whether I can import the full HD format. Older info on the net implies that you would have to select standard import which would defeat the purpose of buying HD. Was this issue resolved with the upgrade to the Mac os? The info on the apple link still shows what the original poster noted which was that IMovie does not support 1080 p????

luvskot said:

I have another problem, though, I think this has something to do with my inexperience. I exported a test video to YouTube using iMovie in the 1080 setting, but when I went to YouTube to watch it, it looked awful! I have done something wrong, but I don't have a clue what. Can anyone tell me what the problem is?

Click to expand...

This is what Apple is referring to when they say "iMovie does not support footage recorded in 1080-60p from this Camcorder"

What did you do that worked?

I saw your later response to this post that your Sony Handycam CX260 ended up working. I was wondering if you could share what you did in order to get it to work. I am in the same situation with the same model not being picked up in iMovie, and I'm really curious to hear what you did because I have gotten nowhere with my research into it. Any information will help! Thanks

luvskot said:

I’ve searched the forums for an answer to this question, but most of what I’ve found is older information. I want to buy a Sony HDR cx260v camcorder, but from what I’ve read, it’s not a “mac friendly” camera. I’m not entirely sure what that means, other than it’s not compatible with iMovie, which means there may be issues with a Mac recognizing the files, and a Mac’s ability to process high definition video. I got this from a post that a fellow made in the review section at Amazon, which completely confused me.

So I did some research online and found the iMovie ‘11 Supported Cameras webpage. When I plugged in the info for the camera I want I found these messages:

iMovie does not support footage recorded in 1080-60p from this Camcorder
Requires Mac OS X v10.6.7
and
The AVCHD recording modes in Sony-model digital still cameras and camcorders have changed in 2011 from previous models. New Sony cameras require Mac OS X v10.6.7 or later to import AVCHD video properly.

This implies that any past problems would be solved by using Mac OS X v10.6.7 or later. I have v10.7.5, I believe. So based on all that, I have a few questions.
One, does OS X Lion or Mountain Lion solve past compatibility issues?
Two, would using a firewire cable help?
Three, are there any iMovie compatible camcorders out there? I not that into intensive video editing, but if I’m going to buy an HD camera, I certainly want to watch it in HD.

Thanks!

Here’s the link to the iMovie ‘11 Supported Cameras webpage:

http://help.apple.com/imovie/cameras/en/index.html?lang=en_US

Click to expand...