Video newbie needs help choosing camcorder

[stringtheorist]

I'm interested in getting a camcorder to shoot home movies and have been thinking of the Sony HDR-XR105E or HDR-SR11E; both have USB 2.0 connections and something called 'Video Output'. I have an iMac running OSX Leopard and my previous camcorder (which was a tape-based one) connected via the firewire interface. I would prefer to continue doing this as I have used all my USB ports.

Does Video Out use the Firewire input? If not, what are some good alternatives to the Sony products that use Firewire instead of USB?

 

[swwack91]

I haven't seen a consumer Sony HandyCam that doesn't have a firewire output.

Also, see what your "Video Output" connection looks like. Use Google images to see what the 3 kinds of firewire ports look like (4 pin, 6 pin, and FW800). If it's a match to one of those three, the port will be both input/output.

 

[arjen92]

I can't almost think of a HD sony handycam that does have FireWire.

To the OP, video output is an HDMI connection (and audio out, and video out, which I guess is a RCA jack). It's really video output, for in your television.
So not for your computer to connect, unless you have a box or something to record from that.

What you get are file based movie's. So no capturing to your computer. It are just files. When you connect to iMovie, it will recognize the camera, and you can import your stuff. Apple will convert it into something editable. (search for AVCHD and iMovie for more information, you could try mroogle).

If you want the old fashion way using firewire, and play back tapes, you must get a camera with HDV. That's the same mini DV tape you normally use, but the format is HD.

 

[stringtheorist]

I can't almost think of a HD sony handycam that does have FireWire.

To the OP, video output is an HDMI connection (and audio out, and video out, which I guess is a RCA jack). It's really video output, for in your television.
So not for your computer to connect, unless you have a box or something to record from that.

What you get are file based movie's. So no capturing to your computer. It are just files. When you connect to iMovie, it will recognize the camera, and you can import your stuff. Apple will convert it into something editable. (search for AVCHD and iMovie for more information, you could try mroogle).

If you want the old fashion way using firewire, and play back tapes, you must get a camera with HDV. That's the same mini DV tape you normally use, but the format is HD.

OK, that makes things a lot clearer, thanks. Does this mean I'm stuck with using a USB interface in order to upload files? I'm already using all of them and if I want to attach my camera I have to pull out one of the others! (Tried one of those USB hub things but kept getting errors.)