Video newbie question...

[coday182]

OK for christmas I am going to get a digital video camera. Video is not one of my major hobbies, but this will just be somethign to mess around with. The only digital video experience i have is with windows, though, so I don't really know what wil and won't work with my mac. It's a Mac Mini core solo 1.5 Ghz. What kind of digital camcorder will work? Do I have to get one with a built in HD or can I use one that uses a memor stick? Any advice and recomendations would be very helpful and appreciated.

 

[Texas04]

Any MiniDV camera w/ firewire.


MUST HAVE FIREWIRE lol

Hard Drive cameras dont have the greatest reputation, and memory sticks dont allow for much video thats High Quality or even good quality

 

[coday182]

what if it has USB 2.0? Can I get a cable that has USB at one end and firewire at the other?

 

[marioman38]

Wow, so many posts ask similar questions... Anyway's why's everyone always say their gunna get HD or Memory stick... Those suck... Get any Mini-DV camera with firewire (like 99%+ mini-dv cams have firewire...) anyways yea, i recommend a Sony or Canon, for their high quality, good image, and competitive pricing. Try looking at the

-Canon Elura 100
-Any Canon ZR series
-Any Sony Mini-DV

if you plan on shooting at night get a sony because thet have the infra-red nightshot, where canon simply slows down the shutter speed making moving objects look like crap...

iMovie should work with any cam with firewire, but Mini-DV is basically the only way to go, as it is by far the easiest to edit with...

 

[coday182]

OK I'm real sorry about asking all the questions. If you can link me to a previous post that would be cool too, but could you explain miniDV to me? The guy at Best Buy tried to explain, but I got the impression that he didnt' know what he was talkin about. What is the difference between miniDV and memory stick? How come the miniDV cameras have memory stick slots. ALso... how do i get the video to my mac?

 

[Cromulent]

To get the video to the mac :

Hook the camera up to the computer via the firewire port (otherwise known as i.Link by Sony) and then launch iMovie. Make sure the miniDV tape if rewound and then hit the import button and hey presto you have the video on your mac.

What is miniDV?

MiniDV is a way of storing digital video on cassette like tapes. I have never used a HD or memory stick camera so can not comment on their quality but my 5 year old miniDV camera has a pretty good picture quality.

More information can be found at (the ever helpful) Wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minidv

Why do miniDV have memory stick slots?

My miniDV camera has one to store still images on, as you can use it like a regular camera as well a video camera.

Hope that helps a bit.

 

[LethalWolfe]

OK I'm real sorry about asking all the questions. If you can link me to a previous post that would be cool too

Link to search results for "buy camera" limited to the Digital Video section.


Lethal