Best consumer HD camera under $1,000

Hey guys this is kind of off topic but i was looking into getting a small HD camcorder for personal use (family functions, vacations, etc.)
Qualities:
1. I'm looking for one that's hard drive based cause I hate messing with tapes. Preferably at least 60GB
2. Easily transfer the footage to a Mac to edit with either iMovie or preferably FCP 6.0.3
I'm aware that most cameras at this price will have difficulty with faster motion stuff like sports. And that's okay, my family doesn't play a lot of sports.
Thanks in advance for the advice.
James

I recently purchased the Canon HF100 - it records to SDHC memory cards. 16gig will give you 2+ hours at best resolution. $687 from Amazon. $80 for the memory card, so less than $800 bucks. It's compatible with iMovie08 and FCP 6.0.1
I'm VERY happy with my purchase. Here's some stills from my first time using it:
http://straylight.tv/hf100/
Patrick

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Sorry to post this topic twice. Somehow my previous thread was deleted? - and contained very useful information from Shane and others, with specific recommendations, such as the Panasonic P2 DVDPro HD camera. Again, this is for an extended project to edit in Final Cut Pro.
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Hmmm. Well, if it was deleted, it was deleted for a reason. I cannot say I know what that reason is (it seems odd to me too), but posting it again might only lead to it being yanked again.
Odd. It did't violate any rules as far as I could tell. Maybe we were getting too chatty.
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iMovie 11 - cameras supported:
http://help.apple.com/imovie/cameras/en/index.html?lang=en_US
iMovie 9 - cameras supported:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3290?viewlocale=en_US
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I'm looking to purchase a pro-consumer miniDV camera but I am confused by the selection. I know that I want a 3-CCD imager (probably rules out Sony cams), 4:3 ratio and true 16:9 aspect ratio, 24p, 30p, 1080i/60i, and XLR audio input. It seems these cams run around +$3k.
I will not be using the cameras to shoot wedding or events but experimental video and I require rich colors. I will also probably be shooting dance. I would also like to leave room to film a short independent feature. (I might eventually have to upgrade to accomplish this.)
Which cams do you recommend?
Another question: In your opinion is it worth spending a couple thousand more to get a lower priced but true HD video camera. By true HD I mean progressive scan video at 720p. By is it "worth it" I am concerned about the cost of shooting in 720p mode, the limited storage capabilities, the cost to purchase hard drives and decks. What are the costs and complications of purchasing a 720p camera? I know I am probably limited to Panasonic or JVC brands. Which cameras do you recommend?
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Standard Definition (the format which the DVX100 shoots in) has a relatively straightforward editing workflow, tried and tested in recent years and easy to work with, particularly if you are working on a budget and are restricted to using an iMac, which has less options for expandability i.e adding a second firewire bus (not firewire port - sometimes you can get problems capturing video via firewire if you have your transfer deck or camera hooked up to your computer on the same firewire bus, despite being on separate ports - not always and you may never experience the problem, but if you're editing in more than a casual user environment you don't want to take the risk)
You can't add e-sata drives (alternative to fW drives) via an e-sata card on an iMac whereas you can with a macpro which can also add internal storage whereas an imac can't.
HDV which the XA-H1 shoots in, is at the lower end of the Hi Def formats, looks great when shot well and displayed on a large screen hi-def tv, but is highly compressed and causes problems in the editing workflow.
Ideally, you want to have a monitor or at least a portable tv hooked up to your computer for external monitoring of your video - to check whether titles are correctly displayed within the title-safe areas and more importantly for colour correction as computer displays and tvs don't display video the same and whereas this may not be important if you're videoing your great aunt's birthday or the kids playing in the park, if you're doing serious stuff, such as commercials or short films you need to be able to monitor externally.
Performing this is simple if you're editing standard def but if you're editing HDV you can't do this using the method described.
You either have to use a combination of HD monitor such the Apple 23" Cinema display coupled with the Matrox MXO card or use a compatible capture card to convert to a more edit friendly format such as dvchpro to avoid long render times - both options will cost more than the price of the imac on it's own and is why it's recommended to get a macpro tower when using a Proapp such as FCP if you're hoping to edit for a living or if you're a serious and regular user.
That's not to say you cant edit HDV using a imac and external FW hard drive set-up - I'm sure many contributors to this forum do - just to illuminate the possible difficulties.
Also, when shooting in any hi-def format, your technical camera skills need to be more proficient - focus in an image that is blown up to higher sizes if much more critical and you're going to show every blemish and wrinkle of a character's skin.
Yeah, the XA-H1 is a fine camera for shooting with from a camera and image perspective - much more difficult to deal with the footage as an FCP editor and potentially a lot more expensive if you want/need to do it properly.
Yes, as large hi-def tv's become more widespread, Hd is going to become the format of the future - as I've no doubt, will tapeless cameras.
Many Prosumer HDV cameras offer the option of downconverting in-camera to standard def, meaning you can shoot in the HDV format, then downconvert to standard def for editing, retaining the HDV master for future re-editing if you don't currently have the setup capable of editing HDV natively or if, in future, the HdV editing workflow becomes easier to deal with.
This may be your best option, but you'll need to check if the XA-H1 has this facility - I'm not familiar with this camera but know that the Sony Z1 or v1 both offer this facility.
Don't forget, there's not yet an inexpensive way of burning HD/HDV material to DVD that'll play in the majority of HDDVD/Blu-ray players yet - that's coming in the near(ish) future, so if you are outputting to DVD, you'll have to do this in SD anyway.
BTW, I have used the DVX-100 extensively and it's the standard for 1/3" CCD standard def prosumer cams.
Search the forum for HDV to check out the current thinking on editing HDV - there's masses of opinion out there.
Good luck!

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my sony ex3 supports both USB, Firewire & SD - firewire only for DVCPRO i think (don't really use that)
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I think your suggestion is right, using a firewire camera is much
straightforward. But some consumer cameras have advantages too because
of the very high resolution, especially the newer models of digital
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Irene He
Bruce Ammons wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> You would need a really, really good reason to use a consumer camera
> instead of a machine vision camera. The hassle you would go through
> to get drivers working and get everything else to work the way you
> want is not worth it. You may pay more for a machine vision cam
era,
> but it will work with a minimum amount of effort. Nowadays, the
> firewire cameras are cost effective and you can put together a system
> that doesn't cost much more than your consumer camera would.
>
> Bruce

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Ola,
Which consumer HD camera would you recommend to use with a Macbook pro? I've heard certain cameras don't work with Macs...
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www.arturodegrandmont.com

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I have noticed much worse examples in cheap cameras like the Bloggie.
I have even seen it on HD videos posted on the web from cameras like the Canon FZ38 (AVCHD Lite).
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Long GOP ?
Having been plagued (in a very minor way) with this problem for over 6 months and having tried numerous things, I have just made a DVD and then copied it to VHS tape.
The result of the DVD and VHS tape, even though playing 30fps on a PAL system through a CRT TV is near perfect!
I have also remade the original short dance video after having converted the captured footage to ProRes and it plays without sign of any occasional jerkiness on my iMac.
However, I have done all this in the past to no avail, so are the Video Gods playing a practical joke on me and will the jerkiness return in a short while?
In the meantime I am keeping my fingers crossed!
P.S. I have marked this as the correct answer but only time will tell.

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This is for an independant feature to be edited in Final Cut Pro.
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If you plan on theatrical release, HD looks better on screen blown up than SD.
But that really depends on your DP too.
And if you need the expertise...get it. Learn it. 8 months ago I knew darn little about HD. I still don't know half what I should, expecially in the higher end...but I know lots about the format I am working in.
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Best consumer HD camera under $1,000

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