Visions Fantastic - View Single Post - Question about Video Cameras? (for a Mac)

Dr. Monsanto · 06-26-2007, 07:59 AM

Check into how the camera records its video.

The Sony HDD cams compress into Mpeg2 which apparently is not native to or workable in Imovie.

Also if you're looking to really edit the video you don't want a format like HDD or DVD because it immediately compresses the video.

MiniDV is not the most convenient of the formats but you have a better raw output for editing. So find the cameras with the features you like first and then see if they meet your initial criteria.

I'm thinking for your grandpa ease of use of like a DVD cam would be best. I'm not sure how much actual "editing" he's looking to do though. The absolute best cams were done about 2 years ago for Panasonic.

The PV-GS250 and PV-GS400 are 3CCD minidv cams. If you can find one of those i'd buy that. Just plug the firewire in and import directly to Imovie.

06-26-2007, 07:59 AM	#2 (permalink)
Dr. Monsanto Join Date: May 2006 Location: Torrance, CA Posts: 346 My Mood:	Check into how the camera records its video. The Sony HDD cams compress into Mpeg2 which apparently is not native to or workable in Imovie. Also if you're looking to really edit the video you don't want a format like HDD or DVD because it immediately compresses the video. MiniDV is not the most convenient of the formats but you have a better raw output for editing. So find the cameras with the features you like first and then see if they meet your initial criteria. I'm thinking for your grandpa ease of use of like a DVD cam would be best. I'm not sure how much actual "editing" he's looking to do though. The absolute best cams were done about 2 years ago for Panasonic. The PV-GS250 and PV-GS400 are 3CCD minidv cams. If you can find one of those i'd buy that. Just plug the firewire in and import directly to Imovie.