HD Camcorders Compatible with Mac???

I'm in the market of purchasing a new HD Camcorder that will be compatible with my Powerbook G4. Can anyone give me some advice on which models work the best?

I recently purchased a Sony DCR-SR80 which did not transfer any video at all.

What are my options?

Are you transferring video via Firewire? Cause almost every video camera out there works on the Mac. Now if USB is your thing, then it will have problems. I suggest you get a Firewire cable (4pin to 6pin I think) and it should work out of the box (with iMovie or any other video editing software)

In the past, I had used USB. I would prefer firewire. What camera would you recommend?

Doesn't your Sony Camera have Firewire? Anyway, if that is not the concern, then I don't know much about camera brands and models.

I found a thread in Apple's forums started by someone with the identical issue with that Sony model. Apparently you will have to copy the DV data from the camera's HDD to your computer and then convert it to MPEG using the appropriate tools. Specifically mentioned were MPEG Streamclip (also needs the MPEG-2 plug-in for Quicktime); VisualHub; DVDxDV; Toast. If this works out for ya, then hopefully you can avoid buying a new camera.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=5169054

The Sony HDR-FX7E Handycam HDV 1080i works well with my MacBook

I recommend the Canon HV20. Its around a $1000 bucks but it is very popular in the Indie film community as being an affordable, good HD cam. It records on MiniDV so you are guaranteed to have firewire and since it's not an HDD cam you don't have to worry about proprietary file formats and having to re-encode into something iMovie/Final Cut/Premiere/your NLE here will understand.

If you can spend more than that, there is always the Panasonic HVX-200 (~$5000), Canon XHA1 (~$3200), and the Canon XL-H1 (~$8000). Look here: http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=89216 for more info.

I am using a MiniDV video camera that has a firewire port. I reckon any camera with a firewire connection will do. You just have to buy the firewire cable that connects from the camera to your mac.

hagios1972 said:

I reckon any camera with a firewire connection will do. You just have to buy the firewire cable that connects from the camera to your mac.

Click to expand...

Before you buy check the packaging and included accessories with whatever camera you buy as there may be a bundled firewire cable with it!