Which is the best high definition camcorder (that works with the mac)? I would love if it had a Hard drive instead of tape it would also be good if it had image stabilizing.
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High Definition Camcorder
- Thread starter Nicolasdec
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I know sorry I compleatly forgot, Basicly i need a good camera for consumers not for pros. I was thinking about the sony HDV series but I dont want tape. is there any Hard drive HD cameras that work with the mac.
That won't work unless you transcode the footage to .mov from sony's avchd format.
Canon HV20 or Sony HDR-HC7 are your best options.
Oh, I was not aware of that. Final Cut can't Import the avchd files?
To the OP: If I were you I would just get a nice tape camera. Tapes are very nice because you will never run out of room in the field, you will always have a back up (assuming you don't reuse the tapes), tapes are cheap, and they're standardized. Can't get much better
The only advantages to hard drive cameras is faster than real time import speeds, and you won't get tape noise like you would from using a low quality tape.
If i got a Tape Hd camcorder would there be a table of content or something? bicause it would be anoying to cycle the hole tape just to find a recording.
That's how they work. Normally you just import the whole tape, then in the software you can automatically split it up into segments (usually where you stop and start recording again).
To the OP: If I were you I would just get a nice tape camera. Tapes are very nice because you will never run out of room in the field, you will always have a back up (assuming you don't reuse the tapes), tapes are cheap, and they're standardized. Can't get much better
I would add as an advantage (if you plan to do any iMovie editing) that you also get raw DV instead of an already compressed video.
I just started researching for video cameras and was shocked to discover that the hard drive and DVD cameras only save mpeg2 compressed video.
You don't want to use hard drive based camcorders. They aren't all they're cracked up to be. Buy an HV20 or HC7 and some accessories from some place like B&H PhotoVideo. Get a bunch of Panasonic tapes for about $2.50 a piece. Almost anyone who does video is going to tell you the same.
You could always splurge a little and by the Panasonic HVX-200..it uses P2 cards which record full quality HD!
I would start with iMovie, it's free and already on your Mac. It may be all you need.
Second that. Final Cut has a pretty tough learning curve, and if you've never edited before than it will be even harder.