CANON HG10 & JVC GZ-MG730 Questions

[mikeyPotg]

Hey guys,
I'm looking to buy a couple hard drive based camcorders for my students but I have some questions first before I spend most of my budget.

I don't care about HD quality video, as most of my computers won't be able to handle that. The reason I'm looking into this one is because it's the cheapest one that still has a mic-input cable, which is essential for most of the work my students do. If anyone can recommend a better camera (with a hard drive and mic in) for me, let me know.

1. Can the camera capture in SD mode? I assume it can, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

2. Has anyone used the camera with a PC and/or adobe premiere pro 2.0 and above?

3. Is there a firewire connection or something to log/capture the footage in real time - just in case the computer doesn't read the avchd format correctly?

Those are some of my main concerns. I've heard the camera is great and I had an HV20 which I loved... but if my students aren't able to capture and edit the footage, that defeats the whole purpose.

Thanks!

EDIT: I think I may go with JVC's GZ-MG730. It's not HD or anything, but I THINK it has a firewire out and a mic input. The main things I'm looking for in a hard drive based camera. If anyone has any experience with this camera, please let me know!

 

[Courtaj]

3. Is there a firewire connection or something to log/capture the footage in real time - just in case the computer doesn't read the avchd format correctly?

Consumer AVCHD camcorders are USB only. No FW, no DV-style capture.

That said, any Intel Core 2 Duo Mac with iMovie '08 (so long as it's up to date) will import AVCHD.

Andrew.

 

[mikeyPotg]

Consumer AVCHD camcorders are USB only. No FW, no DV-style capture.

That said, any Intel Core 2 Duo Mac with iMovie '08 (so long as it's up to date) will import AVCHD.

Andrew.

Thanks for the info, Andrew. I wish I had macs and FCP/imovie... but my district only supports PC's so I'm stuck with PC's and Adobe Premiere Pro.
With that said, I'm starting to look into JVC's GZ-MG730. It seems to have a mic input and firewire out via the including docking station. Please let me know if anyone has any experience with this!