AVCHD vs HDV The Battle Is Over - One Journey Ends, Another Begins

[harcosparky]

So I am considering a new camcorder and possibly looking at an AVCHD unit.

Someone mentioned a list of camcorders compatible with Macs software ( iMovie / FCP ) but I cannot find it.

Just trying to avoid headaches with importing/editing in the future.

Anyone know where that list can be found?

I am looking at the Sony HDR-SR12/SR11 for the AVCHD units.

Thanks

 

[MisterMe]

...

Someone mentioned a list of camcorders compatible with Macs software ( iMovie / FCP ) but I cannot find it.

...

The list is on the iMovie '08 web page--and it's easy to find.

 

[CaptainChunk]

Someone mentioned a list of camcorders compatible with Macs software ( iMovie / FCP ) but I cannot find it.

The list is here:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1014

With that said, personally, I would try to find an HDV-based camera that records on MiniDV tapes because those will always work flawlessly over FireWire. There are several AVCHD cameras that have finicky issues importing video into iMovie. Besides, HDV looks better than AVCHD and with a tape-based camera, you have a hard master copy right out of the camera.

 

[harcosparky]

The list is here:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1014

With that said, personally, I would try to find an HDV-based camera that records on MiniDV tapes because those will always work flawlessly over FireWire. There are several AVCHD cameras that have finicky issues importing video into iMovie. Besides, HDV looks better than AVCHD and with a tape-based camera, you have a hard master copy right out of the camera.

Thanks, it was helpful.

It helped me to stick with my first instinct and go with HDV.

Now I need to go and find a Sony HDV unit to play with. So far all the retailers around here only have the Canon HV30, which looks like a nice unit.

 

[ibglowin]

I went with HDV

I picked up a Sony HDR-HC9 last month off Amazon for (one day sale) $824. No tax, free shipping. I was also looking at the HV-30 but I have had 2 other Sony DV camcorders in the last 7 years. All worked flawlessly till I sold them on eBay. The reviews all said the Canon felt flimsy. I have taken the new HC9 out and shot test footage. Results were excellent. I went with HDV for the increased bit rate, ease of use all around, archivability of tape and full support of iMovie HD as well as FCP. I am taking the Sony out this weekend for a full test and will be trying out Toast 9 to see how well it performs at making a Bluray disc off a standard DVD. Looks like the initial bugs have been worked out of it with the latest software bump.

 

[nutmac]

As much as I like AVCHD, Mac OS X doesn't support AVCHD all that well currently. That should change when and if Mac OS X adds Blu-Ray playback support (Blu-Ray's BDMV format is a superset of AVCHD) -- we should be able to playback raw AVCHD footage then.

 

[harcosparky]

Well it's OVER .... our search had ended ..... maybe!

We decided to go with the format that offered the following features ...

1) Best quality video.
2) Best cross platform/software compatibility.
3) No internal limits on storage.

The only 'maybe' about this transaction is wether or not we decide to keep the camcorder we brought home.

Yes, we now have a Canon HV30 MiniDV HDV camcorder. ( If we are not happy with Canon we will get the Sony - in any case I think we will be adding a Sony to the mix anyway.

Though it has a MSRP of $1,000 and Best Buy had it on sale for $899.00 we had a coupon for 12% off MSRP, which means in Maryland we would have paid about $879.99+52.80 Tax=$932.79. Well I drove 30 miles to Delaware and bought it from Best Buy on sale for $849.99, a savings of $82.79. With that savings we bought one extended battery. All in all I am happy with the deal, now to give the camcorder a going over!

Note: The people at the Best Buy in Newark, Delaware were a pleasure to deal with. Knowledgeable, friendly, and entertaining .... and oh yeah the girl was very attractive!