Reccomend a camcorder under 600

Im in the market to buy a new camcorder. Any reccomendations? I want something that works well with imove and can handle low light settings.

hi there,
If it were me, I would go to
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/
which has super prices, by the way. You can search for items and then see their reviews. LOTS of people swear by this site as I do. check it out !!
good luck!

Similar Messages

Best HD camcorder under $1000

Can anyone recommend a HD camcorder under $1000.00 to be used with final cut pro x and a 2010 unibody MacBook pro?
Any information will be helpful.
Thanks!

I've seen very good reviews for the Panasonic TM900. It works with FC, does 50/60P, and is now on sale.... I could've picked one up for $699 (Canadian) in Best Buy.

What camcorder under $500 would you guys recommend?

I'm about to have a baby in the next week or so, and I'd like to get a camcorder!
What camcorder would you recommend to work well with the Mac lifestyle?
I have an iMac 21" + apple TV, and I don't really need HD or anything - just good wquality widescreen footage would be nice to watch on AppleTV once I'm done editing in iMovie.
Any suggestions?
// Martin

A miniDV tape cam will give you lossless quality video, as opposed to other formats that use high compression to store the video files. Definitely avoid any DVD cam, as DVD's are end products and they are not intended for editing purposes.
Since you seem to be new to moviemaking, you may also not know that you can get a free download of iMovie HD6, the previous version of iMovie and many will say the last, best iMovie made. It offers greater editing capabilities and a pro style timeline editing format, as opposed to iMovie 08, which is geared towards the You Tube style moviemaker and has a very different workflow.
If you do decide that HD6 offers more of what you want, you must only consider a miniDV cam with firewire, as iMovie HD6 will only capture from that format. Other format cams will require third party software, extra time and loss of quality in your final production, if you need to import non .dv files into HD6.
Having a tape cam also allows you to always safely keep your original footage, plus make a tape copy of your finished movie by exporting from iMovie HD6 back to your cam. Tapes are far more reliable long term storage media, if stored properly, than any DVD or hard drive will ever be.
Here's the link to the free HD6 download:
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/imovieHD6.html
Here's a link to a camcorder review website to help you decide which way to go. Bear in mind that salespeople are going to direct you to what their store wants you to buy and with the glut of hard drive, flash memory and DVD cams out there, the best format, miniDV, is not getting its fair shake.
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/
Good luck giving birth next week MARTIN - you must be the world's first!!!

Camcorder under $450 to work with firewire and G5

So confused on camcorders available that are easily compatible. Went thru list on Apple site and the ones that fit my budget are not compatible with my system. Any suggestions? I want a tapeless model hopefully with memory stick or hard drive. I need it easy to operate to film my kids sports.

With the info supplied it's hard to make a judgement.
Sounds like you have a G5 PPC?
Hard drive/tapeless type cameras require Intel equipped Macs for use and they should shoot AVCHD and can consume up to 40 gig per hour hard drive space.
That being said you can use third party applications to convert your footage to make AVCHD or other formats conform.
I'd suggest a mini DV _tape based_ camera would be most suitable for you Mac and also the course of least resistance when it comes to editing and storage.
Where are you going to store your tapeless files in the long term once you clear the card/drive?
Mini DV tape can be stored, has a known track record and is inexpensive and will work directly with any Mac.
Al

What laptop under $600 would work well with Premiere Pro?

I have a tight budget so I cant get anything too good. All I need is a laptop that can run Premiere Pro decently without taking a long time to load or freeze on me.

You have not specified what media you are editing. If you are only editing SD with a DV camera their may be possibilities, but who does that anymore?. If you are editing anything more complex than that (see Harms Tweakers pages, especially the "What about Laptops") you are out of luck. Now here is a used laptop $775 that has the required screen size, a quad core i7 hyperthreaded CPU, a 7200 rpm drive, and a couple of USB3 ports for "essentially" a second disk drive (if you choose the proper USB3 device).. The only shortcoming is the AMD GPU, and if your editing is very basic You might get by without GPU accelerated MPE effects and features.

Decent HD camcorder compatible with FCP?

I really need to get an HD camcorder and the most important thing for me is easy compatibility with Macs and uploading to Final Cut Pro X, which I have. My budget is under $600, so obviously how good the HD quality is is not the priority here. I've looked at the Canon Vixia line and the Sony Handycam HDR-CX line, but the Vixias are really expensive and I've heard Sonys dont get along with Macs. I could get a Vixia if I look into it more, as I really like and trust Canon. However, my main question is which camcorders will work BEST with Final Cut Pro, because from all my research and what I've heard (I've literally been researching camcorders for the past 4 months) you have to like convert files to get HD video to FCP, which I don't understand at all so a camcorder that at least simplifies this process while uploading or forgoes it altogether would be very awesome, but I'm not sure this exists. ANYWAYS, I really need some recommendations as to which camcorder is best for my situation, because I've searched to the ends of the Earth and frankly I'm getting sick of looking. I just need answers. I don't have super picky requirements, just a DECENT at least HD camcorder which is not gonna make me broke and that works well with Mac products and Final Cut Pro. Any ideas?

http://help.apple.com/finalcutpro/cameras/en/index.html
the above will give you a start as to camcorders/cameras that will work with fcpx directly.
The best advice I got when I was shopping was to save money for an external mic. I finally got one and found it to be wonderful for interviews etc.
Hugh

Camcorder Question/ Final Cut Express 2

Hello All,
I am looking to buy a new camcorder as my old one (Sony DCR-PC100e) has died on me. Am thinking of the Canon. Like the look of the XM2 but notice that on this board a lot of people talking about the HV20 and HV30.
I need mini-DV, am not bothered about HD necessarily cos I don't have an HD tv or anything else that's HD. Obviously am using a Mac, and need it to be compatible with Final Cut Express ( iahve version 2.0.3...old, I know, but suits me fine for now).
Any strong opinions on which one of these is better? XM2 or HV30.
The semi-pro version that Sony has, the DCR-VX2100-E is way too expensive....looks like the Canon XM2 is around £1500 or so?
Would appreciate any feedback, Thanks.

I have got the HV20 but cannot comment in depth on how good it is as I have only shot about 5 minutes of footage!
However, it received excellent reviews last year and is available for well under £600 new.
There are some 10 huge web pages to this review but they are worth wading through. The other reviews are shorter:-
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Canon-HV20-Camcorder-Review.htm#
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/macuser/reviews/115215/canon-hv20.html
http://www.simplydv.co.uk/reviews/camcorders/canon/hdv/canon-hv30-review.html
Ian.

Dv Camcorder

Hi all.
Looking to buy a 2nd hand DV camcorder under £200 for my ageing G5 and see the Panasonic NV-GS320 goes quite cheaply and with 3CCD and widescreen it looks okay for me,but what others should i consider?
I currently have a Sony Hard drive based one that is a pain to use as iMovie doesnt import it all automatically without extra software and also i want the is a compressed video in the first place which i want to avoid.
Seems DV is the definately the way to go.
I'd love HD but guess my mac would struggle with the files? and would Imovie 08 even support them?
Sorry for all the questions.

Hi
Just an update. I find the Panasonic a breeze to use and quality is pretty good until you see what HD can do.
Can anyone help me with my question below? (sorry if i've posted it elsewhere in this forum but wanted to make sure it gets read)
I've read great reports about the canon HV30/40 minidv camcorders and seen them go for around £250 on Ebay but wondered if anything newer has come out that anyone can recommend.
I'm using Final Cut Pro 6 (just getting to grips with it) and find using my old standard def Panasonic GS320 is very easy with log & Capture and would like a DV based device that will operate the same meaning i haven't got to encode any files to Prores and all that jazz.
I saw a new Panasonic HD camera in a local Panasonic store that used miniDV but it was some £900!
i'm looking to spend perhaps upto £600,perhaps even a grand if it results in excellent quality and ease of use.
Any suggestions all?
i'm in the UK by the way.
Thanks very much

Please recommend a tapeless camcorder to use with Apple iMovie5, standard definition 4:3.

I'm still using Apple iMovie5 and a Power PC to make standard definition 4:3
aspect ratio DVD's for industrial training purposes. Historically, I've used
miniDV camcorders to aquire the raw content. I want to go tapeless, but still keep
everything else the same. Any specific suggestions for camcorders that aquire in
SD 4:3 with files compatible with iMovie5 (like .mov files)?? In other words, I
need to replace the miniDV capture process and go with something that easily
imports into iMovie 5, std def, with 4:3. Help please!!!
Thanks! Also, I do not need a real high end camera. Something under $600 preferable.
<Edited by Host>

The nearest we can get to an answer about the very old iMovie 5 and what types of cameras and video types it supported is here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2264#

HT3290 HD Camcorder

I am looking for an HD camcorder under $400 that is compatible with Mac. I have been reading many consumer complaints of highly recommended camcorders that are not 'friendly' with Mac products in Imovie. Does anyone have any suggestions? The list provided on this website is WAY to overwhelming and doesn't list suggested prices etc. so I have no idea what I am looking at.

I think if you want 720p it has to come from a 24-fps source video (not 30-fps) AND be at a resolution of 1280x720 or higher. However, you can try to play around with QuickTime Pro to see if you can "force" a video to be encoded at 1280x720 as long as you use H.264 and keep the bit rate below 5Mbps.
Using QuickTime Pro I've encoded some standard definition material at 854x480 so it can be viewed full-screen on a 4:3 TV running at 480p and that works with my AppleTV.
However, if you simply use the AppleTV presets in QuickTime it apparently tries to do a "best" match between the source video and the formats that are supported on the AppleTV. Thus, it seems that any 30-fps video beyond a certain size gets encoded at 960x540 which is one half the width and height of true 1080HD (or basically 1/4 the resolution of 1080HD). In some cases, however, the QuickTime presets seem to output 1280x720 at 24-fps (which is the highest encoded resolution that the AppleTV supports).
Interestingly, in the U.S. the most common HD broadcast formats are 30-fps 1080i and 60-fps 720p (where the "f" stands for a full "frame," neither of which the AppleTV will natively support). Thus, the AppleTV drops to 24-fps for its 720p support (which is a good match for most movies and which is used for some HD broadcasts) and expects 960x540 content for a 2X upscaling for its 1080i support.

Camcorder choice??? please help

Going to purchase a new camcorder under $400 - Love Apples - wont create movies but I want the ease of transferring files am I stuck with Sanyo or are others ok?
Thank you very much

revman3 wrote:
.. I want the ease of transferring files ..
this is a list of Apple-tested-ones ..
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3290?viewlocale=en_US#4
for sure, many others, esp. 'variations' of the ones on that list, do work either..

I need Gaming Laptop under 500 dollars

Hi and if any of you can give me address where can I get laptops under 500 dollars please share here. Actually I have been searching gaming laptops over the internet for long time.

you might found something here: http://gaminglaptopunder1000.org/best-gaming-laptops-under-600-dollars/

OS X won't recognize camcorder

have a new macbook, and just got a Canon Optura 500 camcorder. When I connect the camcorder under OS X, nothing happens. I have Windows XP installed using bootcamp. When I run Windows, it automatically recognizes the camcorder and prompts me for how'd I'd like to download the videos. Therefore, I know the camcorder is fine and there is an issue with OS X.
I find this surprising, since the Mac commercials talk about how things "just work" with a mac (and even use a camera as an example). How can I get OS X to recognize this camcorder and download the videos so I can start editing my videos with iMovie?

I'm using Firewire (otherwise it wouldn't have worked under Windows, either since USB only accesses still photos on the SD card rather than the tape). I open up iMovie, but it doesn't prompt me to do anything since it doesn't recognize the camcorder as any sort of storage device. The one thing it does do when I plug in the camcorder under OS X is it'll open Canon Image Browser, but then Image Browser will say "No Camera Detected" once it starts up.

How do download using 7 from AVCHD camera to computer?

Hi,
Got Cannon VIXIA HG 20 camera and have installed Premiere Elements 7. Its a hard drive 60 GB camera I tried using GET Media, used the AVCHD button but the only drive that shows when I go to pull it off is the SDHC card. The hard disk drive does not show up to pull the video off of. When I use the ImageMixer3 softweare both drives show up.
Is there something I need to do to have the hard disk drive show up? tks

> The more I read about AVCHD the more I realize it's a lemon design.
It's not as bad as it sounds. The design gives way cheaper cameras with very good quality images. For example, the Canon HF-10 (under $600) is a memory-based model with an SDHC slot. The downside is that the internal memory (15Gb) will hold only two hours at the highest resolution, but that's more than I had on some tape-based DV camcorders. With a certain class of SDHC card, you can extend that to whatever the card can hold (I think 32Gn is the largest SDHC card so far?). It's a small and light (soda can size) camera with no moving parts and nice extras like a mic-in plug.
The pain with PE7 is that it doesn't see the camera's built-in memory - only the SDHC card, even though the OS sees both. So what I have to do is use the supplied software (Pixela SE) to download the files to my PC, or use the camera menus to move the files from the internal memory to the SDHC card, from where PE7 can pull it (or I can yank the card froim the camera and stick it directly into my PC card reader).
I've used camcorders for almost 30 years (Panasonic VHS, JVC VHS-C, Sony Eight) and liked my last - a JVC mini-DV model, but realized when I shot my daughters wedding last year and saw it on the big screen that it was time to move up to a higher-def camera. I'm not wealthy, so I was looking closely at price v. performance and that seemed to fall squarely in the AVCHD camp. Personally, I like the Canon form and wase of use as a camcorder, and can only hope that it isn't obsolete before Adobe get their act together.
- Robert

Mini DV Camera - Get New or Fix Old

I have a Canon ZR-10 that I have had for 4 years. The first one I got had a fault the first week. It was a remove tape fault. I sent it back and got another one. I have had no problems with it since I have owned it the 4 years. Now I have a Please remove tape error and the motor sounds like it is having issues while ejecting the and inserting the tape. I has kind of a stuttering sound that it did not used to have.
I did a search on reviews and found a 2004 reviews on camcorderinfo.com. The JVC (HR-D33 or something) took first place for cameras under $600 (the cheapest mini DV ones made). It was rated the best because of its features and low light performance as well as good picture in good light. Right now I can buy that camera for around $255 on some discount online stores.
This brings me to my next question. Is that cheaper than repairing my old ZR. My fear is after reading some more about these cameras that errors are not uncommon. These things tend to break.
I looked at the newer ZR models and found a lot of the featerues on my old ZR-10 are not available on the newer ZR models such as the zr 200. Features like S-video, Viewfinder that pivots, Mic in. All these are on my ZR-10. So it may be worth it to get the old one fixed then to buy a new ZR. I do not need any still cabability. Mine can take stills but does not have a Card to store them on. This is fine. If I want to take stills I will use my digital still camera.
Another question I have is there a small camera in a little higher price range that will offer me a lot better bang for the buck and be more reliable. I am thinking maybe it has a larger CCD or a 3 CCD. I would like a prosumer camera like a GL-2 or VX2100 but know that is overkill and would probably be a waist of money for my needs. I know my ZR does not do the best in low light. Compatibility with the Mac is a must have.
What to do? Where is a good place to have my old camera looked at?

I don't know where to get your camera looked at, as I'm in the UK and you're probably not.
To get a camcorder taken apart and examined and then repaired may cost at minimum around $140. You may get a guarantee on the particular repair (..e.g; tape transport or loading/unloading..) but that guarantee probably won't extend to anything else which may go wrong (..dead mic, bad connector sockets, etc). The examination and repair may cost half the price of a new, guaranteed, camcorder.
In the 4 years since you got it, most cams have had improvements in the CCDs which are used. Most have higher resolution CCDs than were used 4 years ago ..mainly for taking higher resolution stills, which you won't bother with. However, the extra pixels available on those CCDs mean that although the resolution of DV video has stayed the same, the 'sharpness' and contrast of video which you can shoot this year can appear a little better than similar footage shot with an older camcorder. So a newer camcorder may (a) give less trouble over the next few years, and (b) may give better results than an older cam.
A 3 CCD camcorder generally gives a better quality picture than a single CCD cam. But you may not see the differences unless you're comparing like-for-like alongside each other, and it also depends on what and how you're shooting. If it's detailed, quite static shots - e.g; people looking at pictures indoors at an exhibition - a 3 CCD cam will probably give noticeably better results. But if you're shooting kids playing football outdoors in bright sunshine you may see no difference at all.
"..Compatibility with the Mac is a must have.." ..and the most reliably compatible are probably Sonys, with others - like Panasonic, Canon, etc - a close second, and JVC maybe third, and companies newer to photos and video - like Samsung - fourth or so.
So it'd probably give you more peace of mind and reliability to buy a new, mid-to-low-range Sony, something like this at about $399, than have your Canon repaired.
But that's only my view ..others may differ.
P.S: NOTE that in some countries, that camcorder (above) may have only DV OUT, and may not accept edited video back IN to store on tape. If so, the next higher model in the range will have DV IN as well as OUT.

Reccomend a camcorder under 600

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