Video camera for use with iMovie 6 and an Alu MacBook

[superleccy]

Hi

A friend wants to buy a new Alu MacBook to replace his iMac (which he's going to sell to a friend). He's not very technical, but he does a lot of video editing in iMovie HD 6. (He's tried iMovie '08 and finds it vastly under-featured, and he can't get his head around FCE).

He's also thinking about buying a new camcorder to replace his ageing Firewire/DV one. What would be a good camcorder for him to buy?

Obviously, FireWire-only DV cams are out, because of the lack of FireWire on the MacBook. So it looks like it'll have to be a USB camera with a built-in hard drive.

But, don't these cameras tend to record in MPEG4 or MPEG2? My experiences of using MPEG4 with iMovie always ended up crappy quality, and MPEG2 isn't editable at all (and takes ages to convert to an editable format).

Is there a hard drive camcorder out there that records in .dv format?

Any suggestions?

Thanks & regards,
Superleccy

PS: Unfortunately, a MacBook Pro is way beyond his budget.

 

[NeoMayhem]

I would get an AVCHD camera like the canon hf100. The only problem is that you have to import the footage using iMovie 08, or another app. But once it is imported, you can use it in iMovie 06, or any app that uses the quicktime api. This isnt unique to AVCHD though, most mpeg2/4 camcorders did not work with iMovie 06 without using another app first.

Is there a hard drive camcorder out there that records in .dv format?

No. DV is firewire only, it is part of the spec.

I would also recommend getting a camera that uses a memory card and not a hard drive. They boot up faster, are more durable and generally record better audio because they are completely silent. Plus they cost less and new cards are always getting larger for less money.

 

[superleccy]

Thanks for the info NeoMayhem

Does importing using iMovie '08 convert the movie from MPEG2/4 into something more iMovie '06 friendly?

Cheers
SL

 

[Courtaj]

Yes, it will use Apple Intermediate Codec (AIC) to "uncompress" the mpeg stream into an editable format.

 

[superleccy]

Yes, it will use Apple Intermediate Codec (AIC) to "uncompress" the mpeg stream into an editable format.

Thanks. What exactly is the "editable format'? Is it AIC itself, or is AIC used as a "stepping stone" to something else?

Thanks again
SL