Please recommend a $3-400 HD Camcorder that works flawlessly with iMovie '11

[laflor]

As the title states, could you please recommend a $3-400 HD Camcorder that works flawlessly with iMovie '11?

I want give making a few video-"seminars" a try, and I'm not very technical by nature. If I could just hit record on the camera, go to my mac and plug it in and say import to iMovie, do a few cuts here and there, put a few keynote slides and some text here and there, and then hit "upload to Youtube", I'd be really happy.

My only criterias are: HD (1080p), input for external mic., and possibility for a remove (wireless or wired).

I have a Macbook 13.3", 750GB, 2.4Ghz machine with 8GB of ram.

Hoping for some help.

With kind regards,
Daniel

 

[nateo200]

As the title states, could you please recommend a $3-400 HD Camcorder that works flawlessly with iMovie '11?

I want give making a few video-"seminars" a try, and I'm not very technical by nature. If I could just hit record on the camera, go to my mac and plug it in and say import to iMovie, do a few cuts here and there, put a few keynote slides and some text here and there, and then hit "upload to Youtube", I'd be really happy.

My only criterias are: HD (1080p), input for external mic., and possibility for a remove (wireless or wired).

I have a Macbook 13.3", 750GB, 2.4Ghz machine with 8GB of ram.

Hoping for some help.

With kind regards,
Daniel

May I ask why you need 1080p? 1080p is great for future proofing, artsy stuff, indie film makers, etc. but if your the type to "Just hit record and go" you may want to reconsider. I mean hey if you can find something that does 1080p in your price range more power to ya! But don't discount any cameras that are potentially a good fit for you because they don't shoot 1080p...resolution is important...but not everything. Also do you mean "remote" instead of "remove"?

 

[laflor]

720p or 1080p - I can settle for either

May I ask why you need 1080p? 1080p is great for future proofing, artsy stuff, indie film makers, etc. but if your the type to "Just hit record and go" you may want to reconsider. I mean hey if you can find something that does 1080p in your price range more power to ya! But don't discount any cameras that are potentially a good fit for you because they don't shoot 1080p...resolution is important...but not everything. Also do you mean "remote" instead of "remove"?

I can settle for either 720p or 1080p.
Yes, I meant "remote" not "remove".

I am most interested in hearing other people's experience in terms of image quality, ease of use and seamless connectability with iMovie.

Regards,
Daniel

 

[nateo200]

I can settle for either 720p or 1080p.
Yes, I meant "remote" not "remove".

I am most interested in hearing other people's experience in terms of image quality, ease of use and seamless connectability with iMovie.

Regards,
Daniel

Didn't mean to come off hostile was just trying to get some things straight....

Anyways you could look at some of these guys: http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/camcorders/consumer_camcorders
I'm Canon biased (obviously you can go to the Denmark site, I just chose the USA site because thats what popped up). Any HDV camera will work well or "seamless" with iMovie as the HDV and DV format does not have to be transcoded/converted before you can use it in iMovie realistically. However it is worth noting that transcoding really is not as bad as people make it out to be unless your doing very long seminars and need to capture allot of content which very well may be the case, but as you mentioned YouTube I'm guessing your going to keep it under ~20 minutes...even then I've transcoded H.264 - arguably the "harshest" of codecs on the CPU, especially when transcoding - pretty easily with my machine...I transcoded 2 hours of 1080p H.264 with a grand total file size of 16GB+ in good time.

I'll put in my 0.02cents from my camera, even though its out of your price range. Simply put; the quality is gorgeous, and its almost more than I need. With its 24fps mode, and even 25, and 30fps, it just looks very cinematic, with the exception of a few hallmark looks of true film.

I guess my main point is, you may be looking for ease of use, but some things with video aren't hard so much as they are just tedious (transcoding, CPU being overloaded, external hard drives filling up, running out of space, compression, etc.). In the end its your decision of course, just keep in mind what your willing to fork over, give up, consider, etc.

 

[Zwhaler]

Canon (don't need to buy it from Best Buy if esp. if you find a better price)

 

[nateo200]

Canon (don't need to buy it from Best Buy if esp. if you find a better price)

That's actually a tempting option as a "B camera" even for me haha. But to the OP, I would go with that even if its out of your price range...for me when looking at a video DSLR I always found the right choice was always $150-$250 more and it usually paid off. Besides you can justify the price by using it for more than you initial plans. I wanted to take great video and stills and recently I've been offered a paid internship...I can't say the camera did all the work but it was certainly a tool. Just something to consider.