HARD DRIVE CAMCORDER THAT WORKS FOR MACS????
i’m having the crappiest instance hunting for a camcorder. I institute discover that the miniDV camcorders actually attain dopy lowercase dvds or tapes that i can do null with. also, a man at journeying municipality told me that the miniDVs verify forever to download on the computer. Like if you filmed a threesome distance video, then it would verify threesome hours to intend on the computer. so, course i poverty a hornlike intend one because it films daylong movies and its a lot meliorate and faster. BUT, i slope encounter some hornlike intend camcorders that module impact with macs!!! some help? PLEASE!!!!
p.s.
I dont poverty a shitty flip.
I agree with Mike L that miniDV tape is the way to go.
I disagree with your comment that there are no hard drive camcorders that work with Macs.
Because the DV (or HDV if you get a high definition camcorder) compresses less than any other storage format, the video quality will be best. Yes, they import in real-time, but this is not “forever”. One hour of video does take one hour to import. The DV port on the camcorder connects to the Firewire port on your Macintosh using a 4-pin to 6-pin firewire cable (that is not generally included in the box with the camcorder, but they are cheap). With the camcorder in Play or VCR mode, iMovieHD will import the video. Click “Import” and go do something else – like design the DVD artwork or homework or whatever – you don’t have to sit there and stare at it importing – though sometimes that is helpful so you know what to keep and what to cut. It is recommended that the tapes not be reused – that way, the video is “automatically” archived so a year from now you can go back to a tape and re-import if you want to use previously recorded video in a new project.
Using a hard drive or flash based camcorder might *seem* like it is easier – because copying files is faster, but you don’t get to review the video during that import process. Also, when the files are done being copied, the FIRST step you should do is archive the video to an external hard drive or DVD. So all that time you *thought* you saved because the copy process is faster (or “easier”) just got used. If you do not archive, and the next step is to delete the video from the hard drive or flash memory so you can record more… then, once you have completed editing, burned a DVD (using iDVD) or uploaded to YouTube or where ever, you will delete the files from the computer. If you ever want that original video – and if you have not archived – it is ALL gone. Forever.
BUT, if you must get a hard drive or flash memory based camcorder, for the Macintosh environment, I would suggest the following:
1) Hard drive and flash based camcorders save the video files to a VERY highly compressed MPEG2 (standard definition) or even more compressed AVCHD (high definition) file format.
For the MPEG2 files, you need to download and install StreamClip: http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/vi…
and convert the files that iMovieHD or FinalCut can use.
For AVCHD encoded files, only the most current versions of iMovieHD (version 07 that ships with iLife08) or the most current versions of FinalCutPro2 or Express can deal with AVCHD encoded files. And the Macintosh needs to be an Intel-chip based Mac. (AVCHD is a relatively new file format, and most Windows video editors need to be “most current”, so this is not isolated to being a Macintosh issue.)
2) Once you select a camcorder, DON’T buy it. Remember the model number and go here:http://discussions.apple.com/index.jspa
and do a search on it. See what others are saying and what issues they are finding working with their Macs… and what they are doing to get things to work properly. Consider going to the manufacturer’s web site and downloading and reading through the manual. Once you feel comfortable, then go buy the camcorder. I strongly suggest staying away from camcorders that store using a “.mod” file format.
In any case, since we don’t know what you will be recording, it is difficult to make any particular recommendation. A good camcorder will have a mic-in jack and manual audio controls – in addition to all the other “video stuff”. The manual audio control is to address REALLY LOUD or really soft audio.
The least expensive camcorders with a mic-in jack are the Canon ZR800, ZR900 and ZR930 – but they do not have manual audio control – and they are standard definition video only.
The least expensive camcorders with a mic-in jack and manual audio control are the Canon HV20, HV30, Sony HDR-HC7 and HC9 (and they do high def and standard def).
that guy was wrong about minidv. chances are you didn’t record a 3 hour long video and put it on the computer all at once, you will probly end up putting at most a ten minnute video all at once on your comp.
get a minidv, they cheap and easy