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- Sep 30, 2006
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- macbook pro unibody 15", 2.66GHz Core 2 Duo, 4GB 1067 MHz DDR3
Hello, I'm a new user to the forums.
I am interested in opinions about hard drive camera models. Specifically I am looking at budget / entry-level JVC (Everio?) and Sony models. Pretty much my budget goes to the bottom of the line for that style of camera.
I am a new user to video, looking for a consumer-level camera. However there is one thing I have worked out form myself while researching the topic of cameras. Specifically, I do NOT want to buy DV tape. Tape is a dead medium, especially in the consumer end where the record-to-DVD format is taking over. Also Firewire is also seemingly less common too.
This leaves me with the Hard Disk format, which appears to be the format of the future. It will probably come equipped with USB only. So it seems that I should be able to just mount the camera's hard drive and copy the files off it onto my Mac? Can anyone verify this assumption for me? However it also seems that the usual file format produced by these cameras (MPEG-2) is an issue for iMovie. I have found that I can use the free software MPEGStreamClip to convert this to DV format so iMovie can import and edit it. This appears to be a satisfactory process for me for the time being -- if someone can confirm just how fast and convienient this process actually is.
My main uses for the camera would be, to take holiday videos and similar maybe do some budget music videos for upload to You Tube. I also like bird watching, while I have a still camera for that, I'm curious about bird behaviours so a video camera will help me document bird behaviours and interactions in my backyard or while on trips.
Another constraint on me is that my wife will also want to use the camera and edit videos from it - she's got a Dell laptop. Its got USB2 and the little mini-firewire connector.
I'm currently very frustrated by by the video camera options I am getting for the Mac. For the first time since switching, it seems I am being limited in my purchases by the Mac. Tapes are ludricrous, in the music production sphere we abandoned them (DAT) many years ago. Frankly, it is my opinion that Apple should support what the camera makers are producing and not the other way around, so Apple should get off their collective arses and start at least supporting Hard Disk video over USB 2.
Anyway, if anyone has any experience using the budget Hard Disk cameras with a Mac, I'm very interested in your experiences and opinions.
thanks
scot
I am interested in opinions about hard drive camera models. Specifically I am looking at budget / entry-level JVC (Everio?) and Sony models. Pretty much my budget goes to the bottom of the line for that style of camera.
I am a new user to video, looking for a consumer-level camera. However there is one thing I have worked out form myself while researching the topic of cameras. Specifically, I do NOT want to buy DV tape. Tape is a dead medium, especially in the consumer end where the record-to-DVD format is taking over. Also Firewire is also seemingly less common too.
This leaves me with the Hard Disk format, which appears to be the format of the future. It will probably come equipped with USB only. So it seems that I should be able to just mount the camera's hard drive and copy the files off it onto my Mac? Can anyone verify this assumption for me? However it also seems that the usual file format produced by these cameras (MPEG-2) is an issue for iMovie. I have found that I can use the free software MPEGStreamClip to convert this to DV format so iMovie can import and edit it. This appears to be a satisfactory process for me for the time being -- if someone can confirm just how fast and convienient this process actually is.
My main uses for the camera would be, to take holiday videos and similar maybe do some budget music videos for upload to You Tube. I also like bird watching, while I have a still camera for that, I'm curious about bird behaviours so a video camera will help me document bird behaviours and interactions in my backyard or while on trips.
Another constraint on me is that my wife will also want to use the camera and edit videos from it - she's got a Dell laptop. Its got USB2 and the little mini-firewire connector.
I'm currently very frustrated by by the video camera options I am getting for the Mac. For the first time since switching, it seems I am being limited in my purchases by the Mac. Tapes are ludricrous, in the music production sphere we abandoned them (DAT) many years ago. Frankly, it is my opinion that Apple should support what the camera makers are producing and not the other way around, so Apple should get off their collective arses and start at least supporting Hard Disk video over USB 2.
Anyway, if anyone has any experience using the budget Hard Disk cameras with a Mac, I'm very interested in your experiences and opinions.
thanks
scot