Panasonic SDR-H40 and iMovie '09. Stablization Compatibility?

[madog]

Sorry if this should be in a software related section. I debated this in my head for about 10 minutes, and then realized I should be more productive with my time, so I figure here is as good a place as any to start.

The SDR-H40 is not listed in Apple's iMovie '09 official camcorder compatibility list, but through a few searches (here, and on Apple's discussion forum) I have found some saying that it didn't work with iMovie, and others saying that it did just fine. The ones who claimed it worked seemed more reliable than those who claimed otherwise ("IT NOT WROK WIT IMOVIE!") so I am not too worried about it at this point.

What I would like to know is if anyone personally has this camcorder and uses it with the new iMovie '09; and specifically whether or not it works with the new video stabilization feature? I'm by no means a professional, at anything, so this feature might benefit me greatly.

You don't need to read this part, but me and my wife are getting one as a gift from her father, so I don't have too much say in the matter on which camcorder I get.. He is a gadget-guy and I trust him enough, but he is also a Windows-guy and in particular a Sony-guy. I explained to him that, "because of my inferior Mac" ( ) I would not prefer a Sony of any kind due to their love of proprietary-ness with hardware and software, and that the chances of one not being compatible with my Mac would be greater than one that wasn't (also because of their memory cards, the mini-disk crapcorders, so on). So, he had one other preference, a Panasonic.

I already informed him that it would be a great purchase (we have no need for HD atm), but only have a few more days until he goes out and buys it (limited stock, end of life sale). He did the research on it in forums and read only good things, but I want to hear it for myself, from a "Mac-guy".

Also, the only posts I found about this camera weren't much on detail, and weren't headlined as such, ("I need help deciding from 2 cameras..."), so I figured I'd ask; straight up.

Thanks in advance for any replies, and your time. Hopefully someone out there with this camera is visiting here at the right time!

 

[madog]

Well, he bought the camcorder. This is my first camcorder, and my first Mac that can handle the new iMovie, and it's been nice and easy so far (my only previous experience is from helping others who couldn't figure their cam/iMovie out themselves, while at the same time learning on the spot).

It works great in iMovie so far. Importing works as any cam. I read before that the time stamps didn't transfer over properly, but I don't even know where they show up in iMovie yet (I'm sure there is an info button somewhere, but I haven't bothered to look).

I remember seeing the image stabilization in iMovie 09 being used, but am otherwise oblivious to it at the moment (I'm not on my MBP to check). The only thing I've noticed is iMovie scanning the imports for stabilization support.

Other than that, the cam actually has it's own image stabilization on it. Since I was frantically trying to figure out if the camera would work perfectly in iMovie, I never actually checked out the camera stats (father in-law did). So the additional iMovie support for that seems moot (I'll be on the look out to see if it does work, and which is better, though I would assume the feature on the cam is better).

Ummmm... what else. Cam is pretty cool, though I have no comparison to base that on as it is my first. Sort of like how I went to a monochrome screen Nokia cell phone to an iPhone. Since it was a huge jump, I have absolutely no complaints because it's exponentially better than what I had before.

Battery life could be better only as I see it being a potential issue in the future. ~60 minutes of "normal use", and ~100 minutes of constant use (turning it on, and leaving it there).

Anyway, I'm sure no one cares right now, but hopefully this helps someone later as I believe these camcorders are getting phased out. In which case there should be some good deals for 'em rolling around out there.