I need a new camcorder

I am totally confused (and not a little annoyed!) with camcorders currently available. I use an IMac running under Leopard 10.5.6 and Final Cut Express version 4.0.1. I need a decent new camcorder - don't care what make so long as it works OK with my hardware and software without any trouble. I don't care whether it records in normal definition or high definition provided I can produce DVD's in normal definition. I don't care whether it records onto DV tapes, a hard disk or an SD chip. I don't care whether it uses Firewire or USB to connect to the computer. Just so long as it works out of the box!
Has anybody got any suggestions at a reasonable cost?
RRB Hampshire, England

FCE works with DV, HDV, and AVCHD. It is a little hard to suggest a camcorder within those categories as we don't really know what you are looking for (price, specs, etc).
I use an AVCHD [Canon VIXIA HG21|http://www.amazon.com/Canon-VIXIA-AVCHD-Camcorder-Optical/dp/B001DTXK8G/re f=sr11?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1241355747&sr=8-1] that works well with FCE. Maybe this will help get you started. However, there are many other good DV, HDV, and AVCHD camcorders that I'm sure you would find if you simply googled "HDV camcorder" or something of that variety.

Similar Messages

Importing video from old camcorder to mac without using a newer camcorder?

I'm trying to import old home videos from a camcorder (from about 1991) that uses cassettes, onto my Mac. I tried searching for this here and I found this: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=1943045&#1943045. But I actually don't have a newer camcorder to rerecord it on. Is there a way to get it on my computer without it?

Hello Cris,
you actually don't need a new camera to get analog video into your mac, in fact there are not so many cameras that support AV-in.
read the thread you posted in your question again and you'll find an AV/DV converter, a device that "translates" from analog to digital, mentioned there.
these converters are not as costly as good camcorders, but of course they do only this one thing, so if you think about buying a new camcorder in the near future, you could buy one with AV-in .... two devices in one.
oh yeah: the canopus converters mentioned in that thread are supposed to be good.
hope this helps
viva la mela

I do video productions for a small local TV station. I use Final Cut Express to edit. I need a new video camera but am at a loss as to what to buy. I know I will get a digital camera but do not know the difference between just digital and digital HD.

I do video productions for a small local TV station. I use Final Cut Express to edit. I need a new video camera but am at a loss as to what to buy. I know I will get a digital camera but do not know the difference between just digital and digital HD. Also, I can not afford an expensive camera and need some advice on which of the available cameras would be best and also work well with a Mac. One last issue, I currently use a Panasonic #CCD camera that takes a tape. When I load video to Final Cut the audio and video are out of sinc. Go figure. Can anyone help with these questions. Karen

Hello Karen,
If you are using Final Cut Express, then look for camcorders that are AVCHD camcorders. Look especially for the AVCHD logo and specific mention of AVCHD in the specs. Most of the major manufacturers produce good quality camdcorders - Canon, Sony, etc.
Also, be aware that there are a lot of "not quite AVCHD" camcorders on the market (sometimes they say they record video as MPEG4-H.264/AVC) - buyer beware!
Most everything you are going to find on the market today is HD, which stands for "high-def".
Regarding your question about the Panasonic camcorder, it's best if you post that as a separate question, and please identify the specific model camcorder and the Easy Setup you are using in FCE.

Using old version iMovie and import from new camcorder

I got a new camcorder which won't let me import to the old version 4.0.1 Does anyone have any idea how to move the clips to the old version from the 7.1.4 version which is sooo infuriating. The old one was soooo simple to use as I don't need 90% of the NEWER features. I also miss being able to turn one frame into a photo.

I got a new camcorder which won't let me import to the old version 4.0.1
As an iLife '08 owner you are also entitled to a free download of iMovie HD v6.0.4 if you want it.
Does anyone have any idea how to move the clips to the old version from the 7.1.4 version which is sooo infuriating.
You can open the named_Event folder containing the iMovie '08 imported clips and "drag 'n drop" them to an open previous version of iMovie or you can open the previous version of iMovie, select the "Import" option, navigate to the named_Event folder, select the file(s) you want, and import it/them to the older application.
I also miss being able to turn one frame into a photo.
JPEG images are automatically created in the named_Project folder any time a single frame is selected/added to an iMovie '08 project. They can also be created by QT Pro ($30) or MPEG Streamclip (free) directly from a source video clip.

Should I care about HD versus SD when buying a new camcorder?

Should I care about HD versus SD when buying a new camcorder? I coach track, and need a good optical zoom and want to keep my budget around $300-400. Should I care about HD? Suggested camcorders?

imho, there is no more reason to decide for SDef.
speaking of Optical Zoom + price range: consider those 'still'-cams with video-ability. I like to recommend my (old) Lumix FZ38, a lense of 26-580mm is excellent for sports recordings. Price. >300€ ...

Questions on making Movies with new camcorder

Hi all,
First, let me say these forums are extremely useful. Thanks for taking a minute to read (and maybe respond). I have a couple of questions / need some advice about making iMovies with my new camcorder.
My camcorder is a Sony DCR-SR40 - it's a 30GB hard-disk based digital camcorder. It creates MPEG-2 files (and connects to my G5 with USB2.0).
1. When I get the camcorder connected and copy over the files, I can't play them in QuickTime 7 (I got an error opening the file). So I spent $20 and bought the QT MPEG-2 plugin - now I can play them but there's no audio. Am I doing something wrong or is there a bug with QT?
2. So I downloaded Streamclip and can happily convert files to a bunch of different formats (what a neat app!). Is there a format that would be best to convert to for making iMovies (iM 6)? DV? MPEG-4? (see next question).
3. When I create my iM6 project, should I create DV or MPEG-4? (Is there a good summary anywhere on all these formats? It confuses the heck outta me.) I want to turn my iMovies into DVDs to watch with my family and QT movies that I can leave as files and watch on my work laptop. What's the best format (DV or MPEG-4) to use?
4. Assuming I create DV iMovie projects, my thought was to convert my MPEG-2 files (from the camcorder) and AVI files (from my digital cam that takes short movies) to DV using Streamclip, then import those into iMovie; all that seems like a bunch of work (I guess I could use the batch function) - but is this the right way of doing things? Or can I just let iMovie do the translation to DV when I import?
Sorry for all the noob questions here, I just don't have a lot of time to tinker (15 month old and newborn) so I'd prefer to just get advice from the folks that know (you all!).
Thanks so much
Steve

Hi Steve,
as you allready realized: the iApps are made for miniDV/D8, … but you have found the workarounds...
1) … you hear no audio when exporting/converting the mpegs with QT... that's no bug, that's due to the nature of mpeg2... the audio and video are "woven together" (tech term= muxxed)... QT supports this playback-format for ... ehm, playback, but "de-muxxing" is not supported by QT....
2) best format for use in iM/iDVD? my standard reply: DV
(I've read in the meantime, some report using the Apple Lossless Codec, you should find in the export options of SC, delivers better results - beauty lies in eye of... needs a powerful Mac and "eats" 4 -5x more diskspace then DV)....
3) DV; mpeg4 is supported to handle iSight "video" and some digi-stills deliver in this format; again, mpegs are for delivery, not for processing.... I didn't found THE website for explaining all that, you can spend hours on wiki and many, many more sites... for the average user (as me), I wrote (still write...) a short summary, click here >> Codexx; an excellent source for background info is forum's member QuickTimeKirk's "book" (=.pdf delivery), you get for 10$ here >> QTpro explained
4) … that IS a bunch of work, because you tought the old dog new tricks... with my miniDV and still-cam all that is done with a single click and works like charm ...
this board is full of Qs concerning support of DVDcorders/HDcorders... One can just speculate, wether Apple will implement the support of these formats... I strongly guess NOT, … we saw in the past e.g. no support of (S)VCD, another popular format (to its time), but not fullfilling the high standards of SJ....
no, you're not a noob - excellent prepared, precise discription of your problems... I wish, all posts are read like that....
have fun with your kids! it's getting better every day!! (my son now is 6y, in two weeks he starts with school....adventure!!!)

Purchasing a new camcorder

I'm on the market for the purchase of a new camcorder. My Sony PC9 is clearly outdated. I've had it for over 8 years now and although it works fine, I would like something smaller and sharper. I do mostly sports videos such as ski and bike trips. I need a small, light, high definition camera with good zoom capability. I'm looking at the Sony HDRCX12 and the Panasonic HDC-SD100. They are pretty much the same size and offer similar options. I would normally lean towards the Sony, but the Panasonic HDC-SD100 is a 3CCD camcorder. The Sony HDRCX12 has only one (although sensor is much larger). To my knowledge, a 3CCD will give me a much better, professional looking image. Is this true? I've surf the internet for an answer and it is rather confusing. I know lens quality is also an important factor, which makes it even more confusing.
Thanks for you help.

If you plan to shoot with any of these AVCHD camera's then you'll probably want to take note of the inherent limitations of working with that format in FCP. You'll need VoltaicHD to transcode the raw source to AIC (Apple Intermediate Codec) in order to edit it. These are BIG files, not like your trusty DV format, so you;ll want good large fast hard drives for storage.
If you want direct support in FCP then you'll be looking at both a hardware upgrade to an Intel based Mac and a software upgrade to FCS2 (FCP6). AVCHD support via Log and Transfer was only introduced since the FCP6 version came about and requires an Intel Mac.
With that in mind you might want consider at the very least a flash based HDV camera which can be effectively used via the new ClipWrap app, or just plump for a tape based HDV camera.

I want to buy a new camcorder and don't know what to buy. I am running snow leopard and have imovie09

I need some advice on buying a new camcorder. I am running snow leopard and have imovie09.

will I be able to sync my music from computer to new iPod at no charge?
Yes, you will.

Pages downloaded, but I still can't open iCloud pages from iPad. Says that I need a new version of Pages on my Mac

For my Mac Pro, after I downloaded the new Mavericks OS, I downloaded the new pages. However, I still can't open iCloud pages from iPad. Says that I need a new version of Pages on my Mac.
Please help.

It appears that you are launching the old version, probably using an icon in your Dock. That icon is an alias & is not updated. You will need to go to your Applications folder & find the new Pages 5 icon & double-click it. Once it is launched, you can right-click on the icon & choose Options > keep in Dock from the contextual menu.

I have the latest version of Pages installed, yet there are documents I try to open and the message "you need a newer version of Pages to open this document". Help?

When I try to open some of my documents, the message "you need a newer version of Pages" appears; yet, I have installed the latest/newest version. How do I clear this up? Thanks.

You have 2 versions of Pages on your Mac.
Pages 5.2 is in your Applications folder.
Pages '09/'08 is in your Applications/iWork folder.
You are alternately opening the wrong versions.
Pages '09/'08 can not open Pages 5 files and you will get the warning that you need a newer version.
Pages 5.01 can not open Pages 5.2 files and you will get the warning that you need a newer version.
Pages 5.2 can open Pages '09 files but may damage/alter them. It can not open Pages '08 files at all.
Once opened and saved in Pages 5 the Pages '09 files can not be opened in Pages '09.
Once opened and saved in Pages 5.2 files can not be opened in Pages 5.
Anything that is saved to iCloud is also converted to Pages 5 files.
All Pages files no matter what version and incompatibility have the same extension .pages.
Pages 5 files are now only compatible with themselves on a very restricted set of hardware, software and Operating Systems and will not transfer correctly on any other server software than iCloud.
Apple has removed over 95 features from Pages 5 and added many bugs:
http://www.freeforum101.com/iworktipsntrick/viewforum.php?f=22&sid=3527487677f0c 6fa05b6297cd00f8eb9&mforum=iworktipsntrick
Archive/trash Pages 5, after exporting all Pages 5 files to Pages '09 or Word .docx, and rate/review it in the App Store, then get back to work.
Peter

Do I need a new hard drive & can I use Leopard?

I have a PowerBook G4 17" 1.5Ghz with OS X 10.3.9 on the original 80GB hard drive, I've been getting a lot of problems with the computer acting very slowly and getting 'hung up' with the color wheel spinning endlessly, during which nothing responds, I can't force quit, the only thing I can do is force a shut by holding down the power key. Sometimes it takes a long time to start up. I've tried re-installing the OS but still the same problems. I ran the Apple Hardware Test which gave this error code "2STF/4/3:ATA-100 ata-6-MASTER".
Does this all mean that my hard drive is going down and I need a new one?
Can I use any size hard drive e.g. a 250GB one?
Also - If I put a new hard drive in can I then install Leopard?
All info received with many thanks.

Welcome to the Apple discussions.
That code means there are problems with your hard drive. If you look at Disk utility (on your hard disk in applications/utilities) you may see that the S.M.A.R.T. status shows a problem. Or if you have SMARTreporter installed, it may not be green.
You can certainly use up to a 160GB hard drive. There was a discussion recently suggesting a BIOS (basic input output services) limit to 160GB ... I don't know if that's real or not.
If you do replace your hard drive, you might consider the slight price premium for a 7200rpm drive. You'll appreciate the extra snapiness in response time. And yes, you can install Leopard on it. After installing the new hard drive, boot from the DVD drive and use disk utility to format the hard drive in mac os extended (journaled) format. Then you can install Leopard.

And need the new iTunes 11.1 to be able to use my iPhone on iTunes but I need the new mac software update OXS 10.6.8, but my mac doesn't need or have an update what should I do! I'm upset :'(

and need the new iTunes 11.1 to be able to use my iPhone on iTunes but I need the new mac software update OXS 10.6.8, but my mac doesn't need or have an update what should I do! I'm upset :'(

The requirements for iTunes:
Macintosh System Requirements
Mac computer with an Intel Core processor
OS X version 10.6.8 or later
400MB of available disk space
Broadband Internet connection to use the iTunes Store
Your Mac must be able to run OSX 10.6.8. If you can run that OSX then you can run iTunes 11.1.
Which Mac do you have?
MJ

Suddenly not able to open a lot of my documents due to "needing a newer version of pages"..?

I just got my Macbook Air in early december (my old macbook was getting too old), and the ONLY version of pages I have is the newest one.
Originally, it worked fine -(it was annoying and not as good as the old pages, in my opinion however) - and I had no issues for about a month. I was able to successfully open and edit all saved files. I submitted most of them to colleagues and teachers through Google Drive, although I'd always save two copies of every document I used - one for my files and one for drive storage. Suddenly, neither will open.
Just recently, my teacher informed me that he was unable to open my documents anymore. I was puzzled by this and attempted to open the document both in drive and on my computer, but was confused when it informed me I "needed a newer version of pages". I have the NEWEST version of pages. This document was saved on the NEWEST VERSION of pages.
About half of my files - both on google drive and in my storage - are now unable to open or even convert due to me getting a notification saying "I need a newer version of pages".
A lot of the files I received were downloaded through google drive as Microsoft Word files, and were automatically converted. They worked fine as a pages document when I received them, and was able to successfully work on them and complete them and then resubmit them through Google Drive. A month later, these same files will not open, due to me needing a newer version, but no newer versions are even available.
My mac also has a remote disc - everything from my old laptop was transferred to my new by apple when I bought it.
However, the old files are not the issue. It's the files that I've downloaded and editing since I bought my new laptop that are the issue.
I'm also not a genius with computers - I've used a mac since 2011, but have never really encountered issues that needed me to really "get to know" the innerly functions of the computer until now.
Help? Some of the said documents are very important to my work and I need to be able to succesfully submit them so others can open them through google drive or dropbox.

I've seen other people solve their issue this very same way, based on other conversations, but my case is different. No older version of pages exists on my laptop.
My laptop is new, so I have no older version of pages anywhere on my laptop - I never installed it.
All files that I transferred from my old laptop to my new laptop that were made using the old pages still work, but a majority of the new documents that I've created since getting my new laptop will not work.
After further investigation, the ONLY files that will not open are files that had been converted from Microsoft Word to pages and then saved.
So, on my new laptop, I would download a file from another user through Google Drive and then convert it from Word to Pages.
The pages documents worked, and I saved them successfully, and I could reopen them when I first created them.
But now, checking them again a month later, all files and only files that had been converted from word to pages say that "I need to update to a newer version of pages" - but all files that were created in pages by me work fine. And so do documents that I downloaded AS pages documents.
This is the notification I see whenever I try to open a file that was originally a word document. All ex-word format pages documents that I converted from word to pages give me this notification and will not allow me to open the document. They worked originally, but now suddenly do not.. why?

I need a new power cord for my Mac book Pro its the T type mag connector. I don't need a Tech just a new cord. How do I buy one. The closest Aplle store is 75 miles away and I do not drive.

I need a new power cord for my Mac book Pro its the T type mag connector. I don't need a Tech just a new cord. How do I buy one. The closest Aplle store is 75 miles away and I do not drive.

Are you in the US? Order one from here: http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/mac_accessories/power?mco=MTM3NjU xNDg
Or check out Best Buy.

I have 1 GB RAM on an '07 MacBook Pro. 1) How do I check remaining memory? 2) I have Microsoft office 2004 - do I need to buy more RAM to upgrade to '11? 3) I need a new battery ... Is it worth the $$ to buy a new battery, RAM and Microsoft office 2011?

I have a MacBook Pro from '07 with 1 GB of memory. The battery is shot and my AppleCare has run out. I just upgraded the OS to 10.6.8. But a few questions:
1 - How do I even check how much memory I have left on this computer?
2 - How do I check how many battery cycles are left?
3 - I want to upgrade to Microsoft Office '11 because I don't have Adobe Acrobat to creat pdf's and I need to be able to do this for school... Instead of buying acrobat, I figured I would just upgrade to Office '11 because I can generate pdf's from Word. Roughly how much RAM does Office '11 take up?
4 - Does Apple still make batteries for this computer (from '07)? How much do they cost?
5 - How much does 1 more GB of memory cost?
AND lastly -- is it even worth it to spend the $ on more RAM, a new battery and Office '11?
Or does it make more sense to just get a new computer entirely? (trying to avoid this).
ANY help would be sooo appreciated! Thanks.

1 - How do I even check how much memory I have left on this computer?
If you're asking how to check to see if you need more RAM, open Activity Monitor and go to the System Memory tab, then compare page outs and page ins. If page outs is 10% or more of page ins, you probably need more RAM.
2 - How do I check how many battery cycles are left?
There's no limit on the number of battery cycles, it's just that the more cycles you've used the more "worn out" your battery gets. You've got a 4-year-old machine, and if it's still got the original battery, it's probably about time for a replacement battery. You can check battery health using System Profiler... look at the Power section under Hardware.
3 - I want to upgrade to Microsoft Office '11 because I don't have Adobe Acrobat to creat pdf's and I need to be able to do this for school... Instead of buying acrobat, I figured I would just upgrade to Office '11
You don't need Office 2011 to create PDFs. Any application capable of printing can create PDFs on a Mac. Just choose File -> Print, but instead of clicking the Print button in the print dialog, click the PDF button and choose Save As PDF in the menu that appears.
4 - Does Apple still make batteries for this computer (from '07)? How much do they cost?
5 - How much does 1 more GB of memory cost?
I'll "ditto" sig's answers to these.
AND lastly -- is it even worth it to spend the $ on more RAM, a new battery and Office '11?
Or does it make more sense to just get a new computer entirely? (trying to avoid this).
If Office 2004 is still working fine for you, stick with that and don't incur the costs of Office 2011. As to the RAM, only add more if the test I mentioned above indicates that you need it. If you buy more RAM when you don't really need it, you won't see much (if any) performance improvement. That just leaves the battery... and if the machine is still doing what you need it to do and you don't really need a new machine for anything, you could definitely buy a new battery and get a few more years out of it.

I need a new camcorder

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for