HT3290 Can you recommend a Sony Mini DV tape camera ?

Question

Can someone recommend a Sony mini dv camera that will work with iMovie '11 ?  I have an old Sony DCR-TRV17 and iMovie does not recognize the camera when connected.
Using OS X 10.8.3     MacBook Pro

Answer 1

seeburg220 wrote:
I noticed your camera is the European model.  Is that a different format than the USA version,  ie PAL ? 
Yes. My Sony DCR-TRV20E is the PAL model (hence the E in the model number). I believe there was also an NTSC model. I purchased mine in December 2000, so over 12 years old now, but still works fine. Although, as I mentioned earlier, I rarely use this camcorder now - really only for importing old tapes.
Just on that note, I will shortly be doing an import of a wedding I shot, edited and archived back to miniDV tape in 2002 (using iMovie version 2). The project was originally copied to VHS tape. The bride would now like some copies on DVD, so I'm going to add chapter markers and author the DVD in iDVD (and perhaps do some other tidy ups). I'll also provide some USB memory sticks.
In a few days, I will report back as to how this works out. I will be importing to iMovie HD 6, not iMovie '11, in this particular instance. With iMovie '11, importing archived edited tapes causes some of the media to be out of sequence, including titles and transitions and some clips. They seem to import in chronological order rather than edited order. I'm pretty sure that iMovie HD 6 imports in edited order.
Regarding the problem you are having with importing, can you provide some information about your method. For example:
is the camera connected to power rather than being just battery powered;
what cable and/or adaptor are you using;
has the camera worked with other versions of iMovie;
have you set the camera to VCR (playback) mode;
have you tried connecting then starting things in a different sequence;
have you waited long enough before aborting the import process (it sometimes takes a while before iMovie recognizes the camera)?
Answers to all these things, and any other information you can provide, may help us to provide a solution.
So don't look at buying a new camcorder just yet - hang in there!
John