Canon Vixia HF G30 to film Aurora Borealis?

Hello! I am planning a trip to Canada to see the Northern Lights and have the opportunity to borrow an HF G30. My first question is, would this device work, or should I try to acquire a DSLR of some sort; and second, if it WILL work, are there any suggestions as to the settings? I don't have much experience with photography, but I'm pretty tech-savvy, and we will also be spending a couple nights there, so I do have some trial-and-error time. Thanks for taking the time to read this!

Below are a few video editing programs you might want to consider (in no particular order):Corel VideoStudio Pro X8 (there is also an Ultimate version)CyberLink Power DirectorSony Movie StudioAdobe Premiere ElementsThose are just a few of the ones out there.  These would be considered more entry level or consumer oriented video editing programs.  These should be fairly easy to learn and use. I had my first experience with the Pixela software when I purchased the G20 and toi be honest I never gave it a chance as I am using Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2015 and have used Corel VideoStudio Pro X8.  Both of those handled the AVCHD files without any issues. 

Similar Messages

  • Storage Problems.  I recently purchased a Canon Vixia HF G30.

    Storage Problems.  I recently purchased a Canon Vixia HF G30.  I have the most recent updates for FCPX.  After importing 59 clips or 120 minutes of AVCHD footage at 59.94 fps/1080 with surround sound I am finding that my files are huge!!!??? Using FCPX editing this footage is eating up a ton of space on both my macbook pro's hard drive (500 gb) and my external drive which is down to 2.78 tb from 3.67.   What am I doing wrong?

    Thank you Russ and Bob. This will help me edit the video I took at my nieces wedding.  I'm still having trouble
    Russ, I m not sure if I chose to optimize at import.  However, that is very likely as I had to change the automatic import setting of 23.98p(?) and choose to import at 59.94i  1920/1080 with surround sound audio.  
    Russ, what setting would you recommend that I import my video at?   I filmed the wedding in AVCHD at 59.94i at 28 mbps.
    Do either of you think I should delete the Macintosh HD Projects and Events folder?   Trash my current event and project and start over?
    My old events and projects should be ok if I do this right?  They are in a separate folder and there is a backup folder as well.
    By the way the Macintosh HD Projects and Events folder has 345 GB of data!  I have no idea why that is.  I cannot figure out how to open that folder to view the content. 
    I updated FCPX after importing my AVCHD video the night before - I also noticed that when I updated Final Cut Pro X - it created two new folders.... the previously mentioned Macintosh HD Projects and Events folder as well as a Macintosh HD Old Final Cut Projects and Events folder. 
    As stated previously the Macintosh HD Projects and Events folder has 345 GB of data.  The folder for the Old Final Cut Projects and Events is 59 GB -  Prior to updating  FCPX I had moved all of my FCPX projects and events to my external drive along with my HVR folder which is currently 8.16 GB.   
    After updating FCPX and prior to joining this support community - I copied/moved both the Macintosh HD Projects and Events folder as well as the Old Final Cut Projects and Events folder along with the HVR Folder to my external drive - then trashed the existing folders on my macbook's hard drive.   when I opened FCPX to continue working on my newest project I got the read box of death on my project's clips and timeline - I was able to relink those files - but I'm still noticing that after continuing to edit - and with a timeline that is only 37 minutes long - I'm down even more GB on my macbook's hard drive as well as my external drive?  Most of this data is grouped in "yellow" or other data when I go to view "about this mac" then click on the storage tab.   At the moment the "yellow/other" data is taking up 105 GB on my macbook's drive and climbs quickly as I edit my footage.

  • Canon Vixia HF-G30 batteryproblem

    I am thinking of buying this camcorder. But when i see this video I´m not so sure anymore!
    Lokk at this video and you understand what I mean. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBLqucenJPc
    Please can anyone answer this issue
    Thanks in advance
    Hakan in Sweden

    The on-off slider is on the top. Put the cam in a bag that is large enough and then there is no problem. Pressure does not switch the HF G30 on, you need to slide the switch, thus you need to exert precise directional pressure. Never had that problem so far, but that's because I'm using a rigid bag that also protects the cam.
    Get a decent bag which you need anyway and then there's no problem. Also, get a second battery. You will need it anyway. At the price of the HF G30 the battery price doesn't sting so much.
    I had much more problem with my GoPro Heros of all versions (I use three HD hero 3 simultaneously). The HF G30 is a real relief as it works. The Heros constantly loose charge or discharge,  albeit I'm on the latest firmware that constantly bricks my filesystem. The HF G30 just works, none of the many problems the Heros 3 have.

  • How do import footage from Canon Vixia HV40 to Macbook Pro?

    Hello everyone,
    I am in dire need of help! I have to edit video footage from a conference and all of it was filmed on the Canon Vixia HV40. I received a slip in the camcorder bag that said make sure computer and camera are off before plugging in firewire wire. Once plugged in, turn the computer on first, then turn the camera on. I've tried this but my macbook is not recognizing any external plug in.
    I downloaded the Canon Vixia software but it keeps giving me this error message: No camera found.
    I've searched the interwebs for different solutions but I'm at a loss as to what I should do. Also, is there a way of importing the footage directly to Final Cut Pro X?
    My macbook specs are:
    2.6 GHz intel core i7 v10.8.
    If anyone can give me specific, step-by-step instructions, I would be so grateful!

    That camera shoots AVCHD.
    Are you using Log & Transfer to access the footage?
    Can you see the camera's storage in the Finder?

  • Does anyone have experience with using a Canon Vixia HF M52 Camcorder with Final Cut Express?

    I'm looking to purchase a new camcorder that is compatible with my Mac OS X (10.6.8) that will work well with Final Cut Express 4.0.1  I have downloaded the camcorder support info from Final Cut Express that list many capital camcorders.  I've used Sony tape based camcorders in the past.  I'm looking for High Definition.  I can stick with a tape based camcorder, but thought I would look at the Canon Vixia HF M52 as an alternative, which is listed as compatible.  I would like to download directly from the camera to FCE.  I film in the wilderness, like having an optical zoom of 20 or greater (yes, I use a small tripod). Does anyone have experience with the Canon Vixia?  And if not, but you really like another camcorder that you can recommend, what is it?

    The Vixia HF M52 is an AVCHD camcorder and should work perfectly fine with Final Cut Express 4 (4.0.1).
    The published "camcorder support list" has never been up to date and I would not take it to be a definitive list of compatible camcorders.
    One note, however, the Vixia HF M52 supports a number of different shooting modes.  I suggest sticking with the AVCHD 1920 x 1080i / 60 fps mode for use with FCE.   FCE does not support progressive modes except in 720p25/30 (which the M52 does not seem to shoot anyway); nor does FCE support any 24 fps modes.

  • Trouble connecting Canon Vixia HV 40 over Firewire, should I use FW800?

    iMovie won't recognize my Canon Vixia HV40 using my standard firewire 400 port (6-pin). I saw another thread discussing this issue indicating that this may be due to other devices on the firewire chain, so I'll try the direct connection, but it's a nuisance since I store all my digital media on my Firewire drives.
    But my iMac also has a Firewire 800 port (4-pin), that I don't use. Does anyone have a perspective on using the Firewire 800 port?
    Thanks,
    Eric

    As noted in other posts, Canon recommends that the camcorder be the only device connected to the Firewire port, and that it is powered with an adaptor rather than battery. Presumably, these condition are met by having only the camcorder plugged into the firewire 800 port but other devices plugged into the firewire 400 ports (although I did try with them disconnected as well). That takes care of getting the camera recognized, but with iMovie 9, my iMac did not have the resources to pull more than 10 minutes of in full HD video. However, iMovie 6 did import the 1080i HD video in real time - I have not checked to see if there are any differences in the quality of HD video between iMovie 6 and iMovie 9, but my immediate need was to get the movies (game films) onto DVD asap, and iMovie 6 helped me do that.

  • Is Canon Vixia HFS100 best for $700?

    I've changed my mind from SD only - it's time to think about selecting a flash memory camcorder
    My Sony 8mm (analog) tape camcorder still works, but it IS aging... and the batteries have never had really great shooting life due to the tape motor, plus I'm going to have to replace my set of OLD style batteries one of these days 'cause they no longer want to hold a good charge... so, it's time to select a flash memory camcorder
    NO hard drive models (several notes about drive problems) and NO models that write to a DVD
    After lots of Googling and looking at specifications and reading reviews, my current choice is the Canon Vixia HFS100... which will cost me about $700, plus just under $100 for a 32Gig class 6 SDHC memory card
    CS5 and the (NOT overclocked!) Intel i7-930 64bit computer I am going to build should edit the AVCHD files fairly easily... WITH buying an nVidia 285 card to use Cuda/MPE instead of the less expensive ATI card I was going to buy
    In my price range (total of $800 is already more than I want to spend, along with building a new computer, but the HFS100 reviews are good) is there anything else I should consider for a flash memory camcorder?

    Yes, budget is important since I don't do this to make $$, only as a family hobby
    I'm already up to about $2,500 for (revised) computer and software... so another $900 to $1k for camera and accessories is a big addition for me
    The HFS100 does get good reviews for overall camera and video quality and low light filming (the biggest problem I have for impromptu family movies) so unless I come across something at the same $700 basic cost, that is what I will buy some time after the computer is finished

  • Canon Vixia HV40 & FCE

    Hi, I'm new here on this board. I'm a student filmmaker and have been using FCE for a few years now. I just gotten a brand new Canon Vixia HV40 for Christmas to help me achieve HD in 24p for my films which looks amazing on my camera.
    But I have a problem. When I capture/import the footage, the audio goes out of sync from the footage. On the camera it looks normal, but when importing, it's totally off.
    I've been hearing about that I need to upgrade into FCP so I can change my settings to upload it in the right format. Is there any other way to upload 24p from this camera into FCE instead of spending on FCP? I need help! Please help me!
    Thank you.

    Dustin,
    1 - If the audio drifts out of sync over time, the first thing to look at is your audio settings. Most camcorders default to 12-bit audio; hopefully you changed it to 16-bit before filming. (16-bit is aka 48KHz)
    The audio setting of your recorded video has to match the audio setting of the Easy Setup you use when you capture the video and the sequence settings of the sequence you put the video into, preferably all are 16 bit/48KHz. If the audio properties do not match, the audio will go out of sync as the video plays.
    2 - FCExpress does not support 24p. Only 60i, 50i and 720p30. There are some tricks for doing 60p but if you really want to do native 24p then FCStudio is what you will need.
    You can import the 24p material into FCE, as you found out, however you will be fitting it into a 30fps sequence (actually 29.97 fps). Motion won't look very good.
    3 - The Canon HV40 also supports a 24p-inside-60i mode. Have you tried that?

  • Canon  Vixia HV30 capture issue on CS6 (Mac OSX)

    This might be (hopefully) something in setup, but under Mac OSX Lion (10.7.4) / Premiere CS6, i am unable to capture video from my Canon Vixia HV30 - it's either i get a monstruous noise or simply get a 'capture device offline' message.
    No one ever had a similar problem even withanother cam here? I posted weeks ago but never got any reply.
    Am using the same cam under Windows with Premiere CS4 and never faced such an issue.
    Matter of some sort of CODEC ?  Does not seem to require any specific driver for Mac based on Canon website.
    Any suggestion?
    Thanks,
    Rob

    Solved... (Almost!)
    Someone pointed out that Canon has a software (they said there was no driver for Mac OS X so I had stopped looking...) But if it may help others, there is a ''CameraWindow'' for Mac OS X 10.6, 10.7 and 10.8  available. 
    As soon as I installed it, I could capture both from Adobe Premiere CS6 and iMovie.
    One problem remaining though : the noise (feedback-like) that gets out from... the system's sound card ! (when capture is ongoing). I have to shut down the volume completely.  Never had this issue under Windows, need to figure out why this happens now.
    Jeff thanks again for your assistance, even though the solution was somewhere else.
    If anyone has a clue for the noise issue ... please let me know
    Rob

  • I have a Canon Vixia HV30 and would like to know if I can transfer video from it to a new MacBook Pro? The camcorder has a HDV/DV output. Is that compatible with firewire?

    I have a Canon Vixia HV30 and would like to know if I can transfer video from it to a new MacBook Pro? The camcorder has a HDV/DV output. Is that compatible with firewire?

    Hi Codye24
    I don't know if you saw this thread
    Connecting a Canon HV30 camcorder vai a thunderbolt port to a new imac
    Hope that this helps
    Kevin

  • MacBook Pro won't recognize videos on my Canon Vixia HG20

    I have a Canon Vixia HG20 and had no trouble copying video to my Mac laptop in the past. Now I have a MacBook Pro and when I connect the camera with a USB cable, the videos are grayed out and the computer doesn't recognize them. The videos play fine on the camera itself. Also, the still photos show up on the computer and transfer easily. I've seen older posts & sites (2008, 2009) that are related to this issue, but I'm not sure they apply anymore. Any new help for 2012 out there? Please explain in layman's terms, as I am not very technically literate. Thanks!

    Go to the Canon Drivers and Software page here and download the March and April software updates for OSX Lion. This should help in transferring video.
    There is also a firmware update for the camera here.
    Regards,
    Clinton

  • How to import MTS files from Canon Vixia HF M40 to Mac for editing?

    I recently bought a Canon Vixia HF M40 and I have been able to import the MTS video files to iMovie, but now that I want to edit in Adobe Premiere, I am at a loss. Can someone tell me an easy way to import these files to either my computer or into the program itself for editing. It is entirely too time consuming to import into iMovie and convert every single file to quicktime only to import into Premiere and export yet again (not to mention the quality loss). Thank you for any help you can give me.

    http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to-convert-avchd-mts-files-into-hd-mpeg-2-premier e-160152/
    or
    http://www.moyea.com/import-flv/

  • How to view original video files from my Canon Vixia

    Hi -
    I have a Canon Vixia camcorder and I cannot find a way to view the original mts files on my iMac.  I hate to say this, but my old windows laptop to does this without any issue, so that's what I'll continue to do until something changes.
    When I mount the camera on my Mac, it only shows one giant AVCHD file.  I have read the posts about using iMovie to import the AVCHD file and then export the individual clips, but frankly that ***** for a few different reasons that I don't really feel the need to explain. 
    Why does Mac not allow me to simply view the files as they are on the camera?  I don't edit with iMovie, I edit with Premiere and the original mts files are just fine with me.  I love my iMac and all my other Apple products, but let me view my files! ...please?
    Thanks
    Joey

    AVCHD utilizes a proprietary container format. The MTS files are in there, you just have to know where to look.
    Navigate to the root directory of the memory card. You should see a rather large (depending on how many clips are on there) file called PRIVATE. You need to right-click that and select "Show Package Contents". Inside, find the file AVCHD, right-click it and select "Show Package Contents". Inside, find the file BDMV, right-click it and select "Show Package Contents". Inside, find the folder STREAM and open it. You should find the MTS files there.
    HTH.

  • How do I import video from my canon vixia hv40 into imovie?

    How do I import video from my canon vixia hv 40 into imovie?

    First decide which editing program you intend to use; iMovie, FCE, FCP, Adobe Premier, etc. Read the user's manual or Help files for your chosen application to determine the steps needed: the procedure will vary somewhat from application to application.
    Next, with the camera and the computer off, connect the Firewire cable to both units, then power up. Set the camera to VTR (play) mode. Open your editing program and follow the instructions provided in the Help files for capturing DV footage from tape.
    Do NOT expect the camera to mount on your desktop as if it were a hard drive or optical disc.
    -DH
    Message was edited by: David Harbsmeier
    Message was edited by: David Harbsmeier

  • How can I get Premier Elements to recognize my Canon Vixia  HV40 to record tape from it?

    I recently installed Adobe Premier Elements 12 on my new Lenovo U310 Ideapad computer.  I opened the program and was able to transfer a clip from a file transfered to me from a smart phone recording and start assembling a new home movie.  However, when I tried to get video footage from my Canon Vixia HV40 tape camcorder, I received a message "No HDV camera connected.  I then used my older Canon Vixia HV20 camera and changed the USB connecting cable, but that camera too was not recognized.  In the past, I had been succesfull using an older version of Premie Elements to get footage from my Canon camera.  Is it possible that this new Premier Elements 12 is not programed to pick up  these Canon video cameras or is their some way around this problem.  My new computer does not have a 1394 input. 

    TR Snevac
    As far as I have ever seen reported DV or HDV data capture into Premiere Elements Capture Windows (any version) does not work unless the connection is firewire. And, there are occasions (especially with HDV capture firewire) the require that the capture firewire be done in HDVSplit and then the split clips imported into a Premiere Elements project via the typical Get Media/Add Media route.
    Which version of Premiere Elements allowed you to do a DV or HDV capture firewire in to its Capture Window using a USB connection? From what you wrote it gave me the impression that you were saying that you had.
    If you have followed the protocol for HDV data capture firewire into Premiere Elements 12 (with correct project preset)
    http://help.adobe.com/fr_FR/premiereelements/using/WS5CDA0F91-60F1-4b79-ABF6-E9E75F498DB2. html#WS2AF26FB5-4C63-4c46-9DB3-7249558F6528
    then you would need to explore the use of HDVSplit (firewire connection) and then import of the .m2t split clips from that process in to Premiere Elements 12 (Add Media/Files and Folders/Project Assets).
    http://strony.aster.pl/paviko/hdvsplit.htm
    If both these Canon camera are miniDV camcorders, then you need a firewire connect to the data capture into Premiere Elements Capture Windows.
    Do you have access to a computer with a firewire port?
    Or
    Does your computer have what is referred to as a PCMCIA slot for use with a firewire card? Have you looked into the possibility? No sure if that will work for you.
    ATR

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