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- Your Mac's Specs
- 2006 Macbook Pro 15.4" glossy screen, 2.16 ghz, 640 gb, 2 gb ram
I'm looking to get a new video camera since my wife is due to have our first child in September. I've got a 2.5 year old macbook pro that I don't plan on replacing anytime soon since it still runs like new.
I'm sitting on the fence in regards to buying an HD camcorder versus an SD camcorder.
Why to get the SD: I do not have a blue ray burner nor do I have a blue ray player. The only way to enjoy the movies in HD right now would be to hook the camcorder directly up to the TV. I would eventually fill all available memory on the camera and have to dump it at some point. SD cameras are also much cheaper.
Why to get the HD: They are cheaper now than when I first started looking at them about a year ago when my wife and I started trying for a baby. Still, they are more expensive and considering I just dropped $1000 for baby furniture yesterday, still have alot more to buy for the kid, and am paying tuition for my master's, any savings would be nice. Also, while I do not have a blue ray burner now, I will at some point down the road and it would be nice to have HD quality saved on the computer to be burned whenever that day comes. I also feel like buying an SD camcorder is buying obsolete technology.
Now that I've unloaded all that I have two questions:
1. Which seems to be the smarter decision? Right now I think I'm leaning towards the HD camcorder because the ones I'm looking at are only $600...which would only be about $200 more than the SD models I'm looking at.
2. What recording format would be easiest to edit in iMovie? I was looking at one HD camcorder (a JVC), that recorded in MPEG-2 and judging from consumer reviews I don't want that. The one I'm leaning towards now is the Panasonic HDC-HS100. It records in AVCHD. Would that be easy to work with?
The recording format is my most pressing concern. Which is the easiest to work with? Which is the hardest?
TIA!
I'm sitting on the fence in regards to buying an HD camcorder versus an SD camcorder.
Why to get the SD: I do not have a blue ray burner nor do I have a blue ray player. The only way to enjoy the movies in HD right now would be to hook the camcorder directly up to the TV. I would eventually fill all available memory on the camera and have to dump it at some point. SD cameras are also much cheaper.
Why to get the HD: They are cheaper now than when I first started looking at them about a year ago when my wife and I started trying for a baby. Still, they are more expensive and considering I just dropped $1000 for baby furniture yesterday, still have alot more to buy for the kid, and am paying tuition for my master's, any savings would be nice. Also, while I do not have a blue ray burner now, I will at some point down the road and it would be nice to have HD quality saved on the computer to be burned whenever that day comes. I also feel like buying an SD camcorder is buying obsolete technology.
Now that I've unloaded all that I have two questions:
1. Which seems to be the smarter decision? Right now I think I'm leaning towards the HD camcorder because the ones I'm looking at are only $600...which would only be about $200 more than the SD models I'm looking at.
2. What recording format would be easiest to edit in iMovie? I was looking at one HD camcorder (a JVC), that recorded in MPEG-2 and judging from consumer reviews I don't want that. The one I'm leaning towards now is the Panasonic HDC-HS100. It records in AVCHD. Would that be easy to work with?
The recording format is my most pressing concern. Which is the easiest to work with? Which is the hardest?
TIA!