HD Camcorder for PowerBook G4

[carlo808]

Looking at the Canon and Panasonic lines for flash-memory based HD camcorders. I am new to the camcorder world, but have read that I should "future-proof" my purchase since I need the camcorder now and will get a new MacBook next year. Two point five questions:

1 - Will these flash-memory HD camcorders mount on my desktop like any old hard drive? I want to just pull the files off the camera onto an external drive and then edit them much later when I get a capable computer.

2 - I assume I can use a card reader for the SDHC cards, but I like the "dual memory" feature in some models. Am I limiting my search by looking at only flash-memory camcorders? I go by the mantra that all hard drives eventually fail...

2.5 - Given my concerns, would it be limiting to go with the Canon HV30/40 instead of the HF flash-memory models?

 

[knello]

1 - Will these flash-memory HD camcorders mount on my desktop like any old hard drive? I want to just pull the files off the camera onto an external drive and then edit them much later when I get a capable computer.

Yes, can do this optionally, but if you use FCP's "Log and Transfer" tool for task, you'll probably end up being much more organized.

2.5 - Given my concerns, would it be limiting to go with the Canon HV30/40 instead of the HF flash-memory models?

The G4 will probably not be able to handle AVCHD (or ProRes), but you could still get work done if edit with an offline codec. I haven't actually tried AVCHD on a G4, but that's not reccomended.

It's hard to say if AVCHD or HDV

 

[bigbossbmb]

you must have an intel mac to edit AVCHD (in FCP at least).

 

[knello]

you must have an intel mac to edit AVCHD (in FCP at least).

Can you explain why editing offline won't work on a G4?

 

[bigbossbmb]

an intel mac is required to transcode AVCHD with FCP... you can't get to an offline codec.