Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

My parents are being amazing and buying me a camera

G5Unit

G5Unit

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Apr 3, 2005
2,107
10
I'm calling the cops
Well yesterday my parents both agreed that they want me to go ahead and continue with my movie making, yet I have no camera(I use other peoples).

So they said they would buy me a new camera!:)

Now I have a PowerMac G5 Single 1.8 1.25 gb ram and an X800XT. Could I be able to edit HD video ok? Or would it be too taxing on my system? I would use iMovie and After Effects. Would upping my ram to 2gb help?

Also, if I would get some camera suggestions? I;m not sure if I should get a tape, memory, or HDD camera. Also, HD or SD?

The budget is really as long as it's under $650, 500-600 really.

Thank you!
 
I can't say much about the camera as I am thinking personal camera, camcorder, you know...consumer crap. I have no use for one but bought my father the JVC one that is a hard drive. Very cool and he plugs it into the JVC burner and makes movies. Very consumer driven. But anyway, as far as your system I would think it would be very taxing to edit HD. I would up the ram as much as possible, but I still believe you'll find that it is nearly painful to edit HD.
As far as the camera does go though, I would not ignore HD because of your system. I would get HD if you can swing it and then upgrade the system asap.

Good luck and congrats.
 
Awwww, what a cute title. It's kind of like Dawson's Creek (um, not that I watched that show or anything):)
 
jessica. said:
I can't say much about the camera as I am thinking personal camera, camcorder, you know...consumer crap. I have no use for one but bought my father the JVC one that is a hard drive. Very cool and he plugs it into the JVC burner and makes movies. Very consumer driven. But anyway, as far as your system I would think it would be very taxing to edit HD. I would up the ram as much as possible, but I still believe you'll find that it is nearly painful to edit HD.
As far as the camera does go though, I would not ignore HD because of your system. I would get HD if you can swing it and then upgrade the system asap.

Good luck and congrats.
Click to expand...

The thing is, I think I have upgraded my system to the max, besides RAM, but I don't think anymore is going to help me much. I'm guessing SD is the way to go?
 
G5Unit said:
The thing is, I think I have upgraded my system to the max, besides RAM, but I don't think anymore is going to help me much. I'm guessing SD is the way to go?
Click to expand...
I meant that you may need to think about a new machine.

fiercetiger224 said:
Go HD. Check this camera out:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/481076-REG/Canon_2059B001_HV20_2_96MP_CMOS_HDV.html

Canon HV20 has HD and 24p capabilities. Not bad for a consumer camcorder. If you're wondering why you should go HD, it's because everyone is moving towards it. And besides, you could shoot in SD on an HD cam if you wanted to. :D So you have the best of both worlds.
Click to expand...
Yes, I would go HD because that is where we are at and yes you can record SD on an HD camera as far as I can tell. Again, this isn't my area of interest so I could be wrong. But fiercetiger has a point.
 
I changed the budget to 500-600 since the other money os going elsewhere:rolleyes: Sorry about that.

If I got and HD camera, would the SD output be superior?
 
Just bought a canon HV20 on eBay for $817. It's an AWESOME little camcorder... I highly recommend it. It retails for $1099 though, so you might want to check eBay or something of that sort, although I think other places sell them for less, such as circuit city for ~$970.
 
To refine my search again:rolleyes::

really long battery life, I need that
good 16:9 support
HD quality no needed(but ok)
and video quality has to be sharp and good in low light
 
Try to get a Sony PD 150 used onn ebay, or a used sony PD 170, maybe a VX2000.
Those are professional SD camcoders. (DV cam). They have excellent low light conditions. Your G5 would handle incredible well DV.
Dont go HDV, your G5 cant handle that, I have a 2.3 DP G5 and its very painful. (Now i have a MP =),
Get a Nice DvCam. (stay away from Canon XL1 and XL2)
 
dollystereo said:
Try to get a Sony PD 150 used onn ebay, or a used sony PD 170, maybe a VX2000.
Those are professional SD camcoders. (DV cam). They have excellent low light conditions. Your G5 would handle incredible well DV.
Dont go HDV, your G5 cant handle that, I have a 2.3 DP G5 and its very painful. (Now i have a MP =),
Get a Nice DvCam. (stay away from Canon XL1 and XL2)
Click to expand...

Those 3 are a little out of my budget, max $650.
 
get the HV20

The canon HV20 is a high definition camcorder that uses Mini HD, so it is a lot more convenient than hard drive. It has gotten great reviews and it's $926 at circuit city. If your parents are paying up to 800, just pitch in 126 bucks for the difference. It looks great to me.
 
I have a Panasonic PV-GS320. Read the review of it on Macworld. It's small, light, and you can get a really good extended life battery for it. It's got really great image quality for an SD camera.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back