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Digital Camcorder Options for MAC

gman71882

gman71882

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 12, 2005
404
0
Houston, Tx
Im Looking for a easy to use Camcorder for my Parents
It Doesnt have to be a MiniDV, But i wanted something without tapes to deal with.
I was looking for something that records straight to SD Memory Card If Possible. MUST BE MAC COMPATIBLE
Found some cheap options: Aiptek
and Mustek
Problem is that i dont think these are MAC Compatible. They record in a ASF Format which is Windows BS :confused: :mad: :confused:
Any Recomendations / Comments?? Hopefully in the $150–300 range
 
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Anything that has a mini-Firewire port on it (looks like a small box with a "v" cut into the top of it) will be compatible, you just need to buy the chord (probably around $10). If you're talking video, though, I highly suggest looking to mini-dv, the quality is more reliable, and the tapes are small. Hell, if you're constantly dumping, you can re-use the same tape for quite a while...
 
I've seen the first one in person and was pretty amazed at the size of it. I'm sure the second one is basically the same thing. However I do agree with disconap. If your parents are planning to actually use the camera a decent amount then I would definitely look into miniDV cameras and the such. I'm a big fan of Sony (at least for VIDEO cameras) and Have an older "Digital8" handycam, which uses the standard older 8mm tapes. You can get the same one for about 300-400 brand new right from Sony. My mother on the other hand has a Canon MiniDV, that is a tiny bit bigger than the second one you were interested in. You can get the Canon one for about 300 now. So I would suggest spending a little bit more money. And I wouldn't be worried about the whole tape ordeal. They are much less expensive than SD cards, although those are getting cheap now, and you can reuse them a bunch of times...For your parents I would suggest the Canon, as it is very small and mostly simple to use, well not any more complicated than any other camera.

Links, both compatible with Macs:
My Sony:
http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INT...e=dcc_DICamcorders_Digital8HandycamCamcorders (a much newer version of mine)

Mother's Canon:
http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ProductCatIndexAct&fcategoryid=102 (its the last one under "Amazing Quality -- Excellent Value, called the ZR100. Any of those would do however).
 
Save your time and just go with the MiniDV cam. As long as it has firewire, it's Mac compatible.

The other cams are novelty items that give more attention to being unique than being a good cam.
 
hcuar said:
Save your time and just go with the MiniDV cam. As long as it has firewire, it's Mac compatible.

The other cams are novelty items that give more attention to being unique than being a good cam.
Click to expand...

I agree with you and the other posters who recommend MiniDV. The tapes are inexpensive and easy to use. One word of caution, stay away from the Sony tapes. They use a funky lubricant that plays havoc with the heads. TDK are also a brand to avoid. Best tapes are Fuji and Panasonic.

D34th recommends Sony, I like Panasonic. But, most of the major brands are very good. It is easy to find ratings on the web, broken down by price range. If this is for your parents, and they are anything like mine, lots of fancy features may be far less important than ease of use. Find a few models of interest, then go to a retailer who carries most of them. Try them yourself. A clean, unintimidating look and feel usually gets things off on the right foot.
 
Demoman said:
D34th recommends Sony, I like Panasonic. But, most of the major brands are very good. It is easy to find ratings on the web, broken down by price range. If this is for your parents, and they are anything like mine, lots of fancy features may be far less important than ease of use. Find a few models of interest, then go to a retailer who carries most of them. Try them yourself. A clean, unintimidating look and feel usually gets things off on the right foot.
Click to expand...

I agree. I didn't really mean to directly recommend Sony. I was just trying to get my opinion of going MiniDV across. Every major brand will be of equal quality and you can limit your choices by looking up ratings and reviews, as mentioned above...
 
D34th said:
I agree. I didn't really mean to directly recommend Sony. I was just trying to get my opinion of going MiniDV across. Every major brand will be of equal quality and you can limit your choices by looking up ratings and reviews, as mentioned above...
Click to expand...

I did not take it that way at all and you did 'break the ice' on the MiniDV, which was what I was thinking, but not sure if I should post. Good job! BTW, the snippet about the Sony tapes is the real deal. I spent a couple hours with one of the main repair shops around here. The tech and manager showed me first-hand the issue and potential damage (looked at a head that was toast - could not be cleaned).
 
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robanga said:
I have this Aiptek:

http://www.amazon.com/Aiptek-1080P-Definition-Camcorder-Silver/dp/B0019BPTMI

Its great for a "toss in the bag" video camera and shoots HD video that is very close to our $ 1000 Canon.

For a third camera I also have the Flip Mino HD;

http://www.amazon.com/Flip-Video-Mi...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=photo&qid=1237087825&sr=1-1

Great little camera
Click to expand...

I agree on the Flip Mino. Great device. Likely to be perfect for them. Other than some zoom limitations it should work out great. How good does the quality need to be? Many digital cams have video capability that great for watching on the computer.
 
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gman71882 said:
Im Looking for a easy to use Camcorder for my Parents
It Doesnt have to be a MiniDV, But i wanted something without tapes to deal with.
I was looking for something that records straight to SD Memory Card If Possible. MUST BE MAC COMPATIBLE
<clip>
Click to expand...

If you are sure that you want a tapeless camcorder, it would pay to look at the Apple document listing those that have been tested and are compatible with iMovie 09 here.
 
sickmacdoc said:
If you are sure that you want a tapeless camcorder, it would pay to look at the Apple document listing those that have been tested and are compatible with iMovie 09 here.
Click to expand...

Indeed but there are a whole bunch of them that are not there, including the Flip products, the Aipteks and Kodaks
 
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