Camcorder for Mac

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> 10 years ago

Shooting the breeze.

Bento

74 posts

Bento

WA, 74 posts

23 Jun 2011 12:15pm

I need some advice on the above.

Am thinking of getting a new camcorder for family video editing on my macbook pro(intel cor 2)
Mac Os10.6. I use imovie 9 for basic editing.

Anyone have recommendations on a good camcorder for mac.

Currently have a 6yr old Canon DC10 camcorder and the image quality I am getting when I copy to imovie is poor and degraded. I believe the video format is VOB and someone suggesting video converting it to MPEG? prior to importing to imovie?

Maybe just best to up date to a newer model??

thanks

Tux

VIC

3829 posts

Tux

VIC, 3829 posts

23 Jun 2011 5:58pm

Canon EOS whatever...way better image quality than a camcorder........

Mobydisc

NSW

9029 posts

Mobydisc

NSW, 9029 posts

23 Jun 2011 6:49pm

Watch the video camera clip put up by Reflex Films. He goes through the pros and cons of the different camera types. One thing he mentions which is quite important is to not get obsessed by the zoom of a camcorder but to place more attention to the field of view.

Digital SLRs have their place but it seems like a good camcorder is better than a DSLR for certain applications.

Make sure the camera is compatible with Mac. I borrowed one from work, I think a Sony and it was not Mac OS compatible. It not a real big deal coz they use the memory card. However it would be better to get one that Mac OS can recognise once plugged in.

Gizmo

2865 posts

Gizmo

SA, 2865 posts

23 Jun 2011 9:45pm

Tux said...

Canon EOS whatever...way better image quality than a camcorder........

It might be a better image BUT the audio system on it is utter rubbish.... even when you feed a good signal into it its almost unusable...worse than a cheap cassette recorder.
The pictures are wonderful (if you like silent movies) or going to just use pictures with music. Do you want memories of kids birthday parties with no singing "Happy Birthday"?

There are cameras coming onto the market that record onto SD cards and don't use any form of moving parts like HDD or CD or tape transport.. Batteries life is SO much longer and just remove the SD card and start editing on the computer.
I bought a simple JVC SD camcorder for less than $150 mainly for 1 option "time lapse" recording (got my money back on the first job)

These days I would never buy anything that used tape as a recording media, its an out-dated system. Solid state with NO moving parts is the way to go!!!!

dave.h

194 posts

dave.h

WA, 194 posts

23 Jun 2011 8:24pm

I dont think its the brand fo camera you need to watch out for, more the media format it records on. I am a mac user, and when I bought my camcorder, which is a sony full HD recorder, I was recomended to get the model that recorded onto mini DV tape. This format was compatible with my mac, and the recorders that saved direct to mini DVD or a hard drive were not. The machine works flawlessly with 'imovie'.
However, when I got it I was only running os 10.5. It might be worth finding out if snow leopard or lion will support any format. I have a funny feeling that they do, so if thats the case, any camcorder will probably work.
dave.

Ps I was recomended to get the mini dv tape version also because you get a good hard copy that you can keep for safety aswell.

Reflex Films

1461 posts

Reflex Films

WA, 1461 posts

27 Jun 2011 2:26pm

Panasonic tm700 = very nice ! 1080 at 60 p for full hd conformed slow motion - INCREDIBLE performance for the price.

Go Pro =cheap and cheerful - and nice and small -did a complete Japan snowboard trip with just one of these to document- no excess baggage worries!

as well as a gnaraloo SUP run at easter

Lowlight not so good though..

Panasonic gh1 dslr -so cheap and incredible image quality (check [email protected]) but you will have to juggle lenses and sound .

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