Mac-Friendly Cameras

Question

OK, I made a big mistake in think the Sony HDR-SR1 (hard-drive hi-def) prosumer camera would push files into FCP. LOL!
So, I'll collect anyone's recommendations on FCP-friendly video cameras -- prosumer to high-end pro.
Thanks.

Answer 1

I Just Bought The Same Camera HDR-SR1 I Found This
Article. It Has Info. Under other Is sony hard-drive
Camcorders dont work with apple computers without
purchasing $50-100 add-on Software.
ttp://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/2006-12-06-camcor
der-hard-drives_x.htm
Thank you, my friend. I will email the USA Today writer to find out what conversion program he's talking about. After a month of rather intensive looking, I've yet to discover anything that makes the camera really compatible with FCP. In act, Sony does everything it can to steer you to their Vaio brand, and, alas, Apple wonders why you would not buy a product without Firewire. My bad.
To summarize: the HDR-SR1 in standard def mode produces mpeg-2 files transferrable via the camere USB to your Mac. From there one can use Streamclip to convert to DV and then import into FCP. Total pain, but faster than re-digitzing internally. There is nothing I know of that will convert the camera's 1080i AVCHD codec to DV for FCP -- that's another chapter in the future sometime.
There was also, in my first time out with the camera, a significant audio issue. The camera actually delivers 5.1 Dolby surround. Nifty, huh? (And it works really well). Trouble is, that audio requires a second conversion to make it just two channel or mono. There is no such beast as 5.1 Dolby in DV for FCP.
In my first little documentary project, I gave up on the hard drive transfer and just re-digitized 7 hours of video using a Canopus digitizer and the camera's S-video/composite audio out. It was acceptable.
Finally, they don't tell you this in the poorly written Sony HDR-SR1 manual, but the viewfinder is in "overscan" mode, which means it does not fully reflect what you're recording. The viewfinder is slightly pushed or zoomed in compared to the actual recorded image. It changes your thinking on framing when you know this.