Panasonic SD5 or Sony CX7

Looking for a new HD flash based camcorder and would like some opinions on which would work better. Like that I can use existing SD cards that already own in the SD5, but also like the fact that the Sony can utilize the Bluetooth Mic. which would be nice for recording kids events. Will use mostly for shooting kids and their school and sporting events including baseball, Soccer and Hockey.

They shoot 60fields per second which renders fluid motion of conventional TVs, so that won't be a problem. But iMovie 08, unless you are using the high end Mac Pro with powerful graphics card, will discard one field of your 60i footage for real time performance. This will make your footage only the half temporal resolution and fast motion would look will look stuttery. In short, don't use iMove 08 for fast motion footage if you want fluid motion.

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Panasonic SD5 and Sony CX7 - Fluid Motion or Stuttering?

So I am a backcountry skier and I've been looking for a new video camera and have narrowed it down to the Panasonic SD5 or Sony CX7 as these seem to fit my needs (high altitude use, cold environments, light weight, size, reliability and shock resistance) best. The problem is that I have downloaded many sample clips from various sites and many samples exhibit the same problem...motion is "stuttery" versus fluid. Keep in mind that since iMovie won't let me import the files, I must convert to Quicktime using Voltiac.
When you hook up your CX7 or SD5 directly to your HDTV, is the motion smooth, similar to a conventional camcorder? When you import the video from the camcorder to iMovie 08, how are your movies and DVDs turning out? Of course if you have any sample video posted on the web, that would be great to check out.

They shoot 60fields per second which renders fluid motion of conventional TVs, so that won't be a problem. But iMovie 08, unless you are using the high end Mac Pro with powerful graphics card, will discard one field of your 60i footage for real time performance. This will make your footage only the half temporal resolution and fast motion would look will look stuttery. In short, don't use iMove 08 for fast motion footage if you want fluid motion.

Panasonic SD5 & Video Storage

Alright, I took the plunge and purchased the Panasonic SD5 -- and got the free burner at Circuit City Friday night.
I spent some time yesterday playing around with it. I really like this unit. It replaces a bulky, tape based Sony HD camera I got 18 months earlier.
I took around twenty minutes of video. The playback on a 50" HD TV from the camera direct was impressive. I also had no problem importing and editing the video in iMovie 08.
I burned a DVD disc with the provided burner -- again no issues. I know that the resulting DVD is not able to be played in a standard DVD player -- and that some new Blue Ray players will support this disc output.
Here is my issue -- and maybe it is because I haven't spent much time with it.
The card used only about 1 gig for the 20 minutes of video. AVC format I understand is variation of MPEG 4 -- .264 codec. When iMovie 08 converts it to an event -- the file size explods to a whopping 5.5 gig folder!!!! This is with the reduced video import option (the iMovie recommended "large" size). God only knows how big the files would be with the unreduced size checked instead.
Imovie 08 reads the video from the card just fine -- but the burned DVD with the video on it, it simply cannot recognize. If I copy the video files from the card to my hard drive -- it is likewise unable to use this video. So then what happens when I erase the card? I can't justify saving 15 gig files per hour of video. I shoot 1-2 hours of video each week.
I think the idea of the DVD burner is to use it a storage option. However, If I cannot access the video on the DVD, it is of no use to me.
Help -- or I am afraid I am going to have to return to tape storage. What workflow and storage have other SD5 owners found works best?

Hi,
Yes the amount of data of the expanded files is huge. At full res it is approx. 1GB per minute. So you either need a extremely large disk array or you can do the following:
- I have been burning the contents of the SD card to a DVD. I use a 4GB card so copying to a DVD that holds a little over 4GB works nicely. Then when I want to work with the videos I need to import them into iMovie or FCP. I just insert my DVD and then run iMovie (Order does matter). iMovie recognizes the DVD and thinks it is a camera so it will then let me import it just like the camera.
- You can also create a disk image on your harddrive and copy the items from the SD card to that. Then when you want to import them you just mount that image and then run iMovie.
It would be so great if iMovie and FCP worked directly from the AVCHD format without having to convert it to AIC (or Pro Res 422 in FCP). But they do not allow that.
Hope that helps.
Jeff

FCE 4 with Panasonic SD5

Hi folks. I thought I'd share my experience so far using FCE 4 with AVCHD material on a Panasonic SD5.
Getting material into FCE4:
It works. Just plug in the camera, go to "Log and Transfer," and you can select and import any video from the camera. It's also possible to preview and trim the material you want to import, but it's at normal playback--no quick scrubbing while you're still looking at native AVCHD files on the memory card. Importing/ingesting is done through Apple's Intermediate codec, which means transcoding that takes some extra time and a lot of extra drive space.
Working with material in FCE:
I'm able to work directly--no rendering required--on the material transcoded when shooting in HN and HE (1440x1080) mode. I end up having to do an additional render on imported material taken in HG (1920x1080) mode, though I'm not sure if that's unavoidable or caused by a mistake on my end in the settings.
All in all, I'm happy with the performance, and I'm glad Apple finally got this feature added to FCE so that us AVCHD folks didn't have to keep suffering through iMovie 08 or convoluted codec workarounds.

Hi dc John,
best regards from Germany. I have had the problem to get the data from my SD5 into my Mac Book Pro for a couple of weeks. Yesterday I saw your hint and everything works. Thanks again.
Now a new challenge is coming up. Everything works as long as I read my data into the Mac from the Card reader. BUT: I also copied the complete content of the SD card onto my hard disk. When I try to get the data into the Mac by log and transfer it does not recognize the .mts files.
Do you have any idea what I am doing wrong.
Any help appreciated very much.
Mac freshman
Message was edited by: Mac freshman
Message was edited by: Mac freshman

Panasonic SD5 and G5 PPC iMac

Hi, I am looking to purchase the Panasonic SD5 HD camcorder as I hear its great.
One problem, I read that I cant use it with my G5 PPC iMac as it doesn't accept AVCHD. Is there no way around this - so do I really have to buy an Intel based mac????
Hoping you can help!
thanks
Mark

I can't believe I have to buy a new Intel Mac to use a HD camcorder - Apple, c'mon, there must be something you guys can do - you're clever, you make nice things...

Import 1920x1080 from panasonic sd5

Importing 1440x1080i avchd footage from Panasonic SD5 is fine.
BUT iMovie08 change my 1920x1080i footage's height aspect ratio when it's being imported.
My wife is now looking like a FATTY woman in my iMove08 project 8>
Anyone can help me?

I went out and bought the SD5 last night. I have only had a few minutes to do some tests. I took some footage in the full 1920x1080 and some in the 1440x1080. I have not tried connecting the camera to my Mac Book Pro, but did connect the USB card reader that came with the 4GB SDHC card. When I ran iMovie 08 it recognized that card as a camera and went to the import screen. I was able to import my photos. So I guess the short answer is that the SD5 will work with the new iMovie. When it imports the clips they are much larger than the AVCHD versions. It imports them as AIC format.
Now as was mentioned in this thread there is some caveats when importing. For all the full 1920x1080 clips it imported them as 2560x1980 an the 1440x1080 clips were imported as 1920x1080. This was a little annoying, but when I shared using export to Quicktime I made sure I just changed the size to 1920x1080 for the ones that were 2560x1080. The exported movie looked fine again.
I do like the higher res and random access capability of the AVCHD camera vs a tape one. But I have to get use to that importing the clips takes longer than the clips. Whereas with tape the import is 1:1 with the length of the clips. So I guess it is a trade off of convenience of picking the clips you want vs a faster import on tape.
Also you better have a lot of HD space. These clips get very large when they are imported. A 20 sec clip was approx 200MB when imported. I will have to play with this to see if there is anything I can do with it.
I do like that the card was recognized as the camera in my card reader so i do not have to connect the camera every time. I will have to try connecting the camera though to see if that does work. My next test is to see if I can copy the AVCHD files to a DVD and use that as an archiving step for my clips. I hope the DVD will then be recognized as the camera and I can import from the DVD since that is cheaper to backup the clips than having many SDHC cards.
I hope that apple puts out an update that will fix the 2560 problem. I assume they will at some point. It is annoying to have that.
Sorry for the rambling but I thought this info may be useful. I will try to post more info.

Panasonic sd5 question

i have a panasonic hdc-sd5 that works well imovie08. i do have problems findings compatible sdhc card. i was wondering if people encountered the same problems. so far i've gone through 5 cards (1 kingston 8gb class 6, 1 transcend 8 gb class 6, 1 transcend 4gb class 6 and 2 crucial 4 gb class 6) and only the 4 gb transcend has worked for me so far? Any is it bad luck with cards or is there something wrong with my camera? Sorry, that this is really not an imovie question, just think of this post s another fyi that the camera works well with imovie08.

I really appreciate your help and have found a lot of your other post really helpful in the past. I think I'll try a panasonic sdhc card first, since I do have that 1 transcend 4 gb card that works well with it. I've read in other fora that many class 6 cards are of poor quality these days and I'd like to avoid sending the camera back to panasonic if I don't have to. Additionally, if the panasonic card fails me, then panasonic cannot claim that I am not using recommended card.

Panasonic SD5 saving imovies

I am so pleased with the sd5 which works seamlessly with imovie with "ner a hitch"
Further it gives great images and sound.
Now I think I am asking a little too much!
Does anyone know if after I have made my imovie 08 movie with titles etc can I then save it back to sd card in an avchd format the camera understands.
If I can bingo! I will be able to use the video cameras HDMI output to show my edited HD movie. At present I am stuck with a well edited but SD IDVD video or the raw AVCHD data from the camera, Neither is ideal.

Agreed. This utility would be invaluable.
HMMMM! Edited video on sd card with the sd5 playing it.
I'm sure there is all kinds of commercial reasons they dont want you to do this!
ps I didn't think that apple had any compatible blu ray writers.
If I could write to bluray problem solved.
The DVD solution is elegant but 20 mins is too short.
Do you think that a Dual layer disc would be compatible allowing 40 mins?
If so I might nick out and buy a ps3!
Finally is there a way to convert my many " large" format movies back to 1080i format without physically having to reimport the original SD5 footage(backed up thank god!) and go through the pain of reediting them (SEVERAL are 35 mins long).
I wonder if you can retain all of your editing instructions but suck the video back in in HD?
Message was edited by: shuggyboy2
Message was edited by: shuggyboy2

Difficulty importing clips recorded in "pre-rec" mode on the Panasonic SD5

Anyone have this issue? I couldn't find any topics on this.
iMovie 08 cannot import clips that I've recorded in the SD5's pre-rec mode. The clips just show up as a grey film strip in the import window. The clips recorded with pre-rec mode OFF show up fine and import fine.
Thanks!
-MP

The way Pre-Rec mode is supposed to work...The camera is on and taking video. It always maintains the last three seconds in memory. When you hit "Record" (and shift into regular recording mode) you also have the last three seconds before you hit record.
This is so you don't miss anything while trying to hit the record button. Imagine trying to film the start of a race. You could hit record 20 seconds before the starting gun, just so you don't risk missing the start. With preview mode, the camera is on and has the last three seconds in memory. When you hear the starting gun, you would still have time to press RECORD and have the start of the race.
If you filmed a bunch of stuff in PRE REC (without hitting RECORD), my guess is that it is gone forever.

1.Need for external burners for Panasonic sd5? General grumbling!

1.Has anyone tried writing an avchd film from the mac HD back onto the sdhc card or indeed another sdhc card via a card writer. If it is possible to rewrite such archived avchd files back onto sd then successfully display them on a HDtv using the camera itself it rather makes a mockery of the whole dvd writer thing. If such cards arent recognised by the camera then it may be worth considering. Unfortunately those of us on the expensive/ ripped off side of the pond have no such free writer bundles such as that seen at circuit city- GRRRRRRR
Im also willing to take bets for how long it is before a smart encoder develops a way for us to use a universal binary mac friendly AVCHD specific editing programme which may put imovies to the sword. Hopefully the Jobs team will realise that they have missed a step in technology and get back to the cutting edge which is after all ahy we choose mac. A little more attention to the core computer market and a little less to phones might restitute this developing problem. At present PCs are starting to offer all this- ulead etc and Im not used to being outclassed in this way!

If I understand you correctly.
You have limited space on the SD cards and limited cards, so at some stage you will need to erase them and your only means of playing HD content is from your camera. You wish to copy the AVCHD files from the camera to your mac for storage and at some point be able to put them back onto the card to play from your camera.
Personally I'd try it, you have nothing to lose, providing you have a spare card. Disk images do work for many but not for all it would appear, I assume you can use replace the files and file structure back to the card if you have a working disk image. To find out if you have a working disk image, try mounting it and see whether imovie sees it as a camera or not.

Panasonic G10 or Sony V or W4100

Wondering if anyone has either of these with FIOS and how they like it.

The 50G10 and 54G10 are great, provided you aren't watching television in a brightly lit room.
If you are the original poster (OP) and your issue is solved, please remember to click the "Solution?" button so that others can more easily find it.

Which camcorder do I get?

I was curious about what sort of camcorder to buy. I would like to purchase an HDD with a Sd slot. Problem is, I've heard concerns about the JVC GZ-MG555 and Panasonic HDC-SD1 and the SDR-200 having some compatibility issues. Can anyone recommend a good camcorder thats around 500 - 600? I greatly appreciate the help.

I have used and tested many cams for reviews. My advice for a100% trouble free iMovie experience:
price range 500-800 USD: stick to mini-dv SD quality. Do not buy a HD cam in this price range.
the Panasonic NV-GS300 or NV-GS320 is top notch. 3CCD guarantee superb image
price range 800-1100 USD: buy a HD cam with mini-dv tapes.
the Canon HV20 is no doubt the best buy and 100% compatible with EVERY current imovie and Final Cut version
price range 1100-2000 USD: buy a SD or HD based AVCHD cam. image is not better than HV20; and no compatibility with iMovie 06 nor Final Cut Express. You wil enjoy though lightweight cam and fun of random access of recording. At the moment any 5.1 sound cam has stereo downmix problem with iMovie 08 and FCP6.01. I expect Apple to solve this but stick now to stereo mic.
the Panasonic SD5 or Sony HDR-SR7
A special cam is the JVC HD7. This cam costs 1500 USD records in HDV mode and is compatible with every iMovie and FCP version when using streaming via fire wire. The harddisk guarantees 5 hours recording and random access. Forget zooming more than 5x because stabilisation is poor. Forget full HD filming with this cam because getting the footage in the Mac is via this route slow and requires the very very best hardware on the Mac side at this moment. Yet this cam gives me every day fun in filming and playing with all the options.

Newbie - General HD Questions - Plus Sony & Panasonic

I've been a standard definition guy for years, and am thinking of moving to a HD camcorder. I'm a relative newcomer to the Mac, and am using IMovie 09.
IMovie 09 is just the tool - it's the output that counts - and in my case, it's going to be the Apple TV for 80% of my movies, and standard definition DVDs (using IDVD) for the remaining 20% of my movies.
Neither of these things (Apple TV or DVDs) can display in 1080 resolution. Am I therefore still able to use a HD camcorder or not? Will IMovie keep the high-res 1080 footage on my hard disk, and then just convert to Apple TV and/or DVD format as appropriate? -- or am I stuck with 1080, with no easy option of using IDVD....?
Also, if I move into the world of HD, does the time taken to render to AppleTV and IDVD grow exponentially over using a standard def camera? And, is IMovie still a usable product, or does editing etc become painfully slow, using HD high bitrate films? Does the addition of Turbo264HD become a valuable or essential addition?
Also, I find it frustrating that the list of supported camcorders doesn't change very often.
For example, I wonder if the SONY HDR-XR105E, HDR-CX105ES, HDR-TG3E are compatible, in addtion to the HDR-CX11E which is on the list. I see no reason why not, but it's too much of a gamble.
Also, the Panasonic HDC-SD100 AVCHD Camcorder has good reviews, and I think does 1080p (the Sony only does 1080i as far as I know). Question - is 1080p the same as doing 25p? I notice an article on Apple's site about Panasonic's 26p, which says "If you plan on importing clips into iMovie '09, do not use Digital Cinema Mode settings when recording with your camcorder". However, it doesn't say anything about the PAL version (25p), but I'm assuming it'll have the same issue as the 26p. This obviously makes the advantage of the Panasonic over the Sony useless.
Thanks in advance for any input,
Brad

HD is the way to go -- even with appletv. I have AppleTV and now hardly ever burn any video! I'm working off a new macbook, but your imac is faster processor. I just did a 20 minute video last night-- a combination of DV and HDV with a theme-- I imported on Full and large for a test run. I didn't see much difference on the appleTV for either one. I suggest still importing on full to future proof. Then you just export to itunes select the setting for appletv. It took an hour. No biggie. Output was not as good as my camera, but I can't find anything yet that gives me equal to my HD camera plugged straight to the TV via an HDMI port.
The minute you bring footage into imovie it is second generation even if you output full footage to Western Digital Media Player that can handle 1080p. There is a compressing process the footage goes through...with that said....it's still pretty good! Much better in HD even outputting at any resolution!
Now for the camcorder, find Steve Mullen's posts. He has several on different issues with cameras and codec's. Bottom line: Its best to edit in progressive. However, 1080p 60 you need a mac pro!
1080p 30 is ok. I shoot 1080 60i. Its fine also, but some people are having issues with interlacing!
imovie can't handle 24p-- or something like that.....There are a bunch of threads on camcorders. Do a search on 1080p and see what pops up. Find Steve Mullens post. Click on his name and then you can see all his posts on this topic from various threads! He recommends actually 720 60p, but its very hard to find.

New Dad cannot import video from Panasonic HDC-SD1. Seeks help.

Hi all,
A few week ago I bought a Panasonic HDC-SD1 in preparation for the birth of my first-born. I tested it and it worked fine, importing in to iMovie 7.1 either direct from the camera, or via a USB card reader.
Since then I have updated to iMovie 7.1.1 (running on OSX 10.5.1 Intel iMac).
My beautiful baby boy was born two days ago, and I'm still unable to get the video into the Mac. Using direct camera connection or USB card reader the card mounts, but iMovie refuses to recognise any video to input. I've tried starting iMovie before and after connecting the card etc, but it just won't play ball.
Anyone any other tips to get this working? All was well with iMovie 7.1 - I tried re-installing the old version but it just crashes on being run.
Help! Everyone wants to see my baby boy!

Congratulations on your new baby (your son, I mean) and your new tool (toy). I have a 4-month old, which was my justification for buying the Sony CX7, he also helped me get a new DSLR. Now I'm trying to convince my wife that the baby needs a new Macbook Air.
The CX7 is also a flash based, AVCHD camcorder. For a quick solution to your problem, check out a program called Voltaic. It will batch transcode the AVCHD (.mts) files. This way, you don't need iMovie to recognize the camera, and you can move the .mts files off your flash card for archiving on a DVD, NAS, or external drive for future use. You can then delete the transcoded files after you complete your projects, since you can easily transcode again, if you want use the clips again in a future project. You will want to do this, because the transcoded files are much, much larger than the original .mts AVCHD files.
I hope this helps.

MacBook Pro (March 2008 Model) AVCHD has stopped working from my SD5

I'm seriously perplexed here. I have just upgraded my MBP to the latest top spec 15", done a data migration and my FCP 6.0.2 had stopped working with my Panasonic SD5! Bizarre!
So - complete erase and install of 10.5.2 and re-installed FCS2 and....still won't work! Have tried everything. Why has it suddenly stopped working with a camera is used to be fine with.
The SD card is mounting. The .mts files are good (Voltaic HD will see and convert them). FCP 6.0.3 seems to be fine in all other respects. Open Log & Transfer window though...and nothing!
AHHHHH! Just about to go traveling for three months and can't use my camcorder!!!!

Perian 1.1 does not help, though I see a lot of people have used it to get the SD9 working. I have an SD5 which did work fine and now doesn't. As an update to the situation, I have now discovered that it will actually see my SD5 if I leave the Log & Transfer window up for about 4-5 minutes. The clips just suddenly appear and I can ingest them, however, if you close the L&T window down and open it up again - you have to wait another 5 minutes for the clips to appear. It is not the camera (I have tried it at work) - freshly installed 10.5.2 (erase and install) and fresh FCS2 (doing incremental updates from 6.0.1 to 6.0.3 and checking in between) The only thing I can think of is that these new MacBook Pro's have firmware version MBP41.00C1.B03.

Panasonic SD5 or Sony CX7

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