Video: MOV/H.264 format for iMovie

For years I have used a Sony HandyCam with digital tape, inside of a Sony underwater housing to do underwater video.  Great quality and editing it in iMovie is a piece of cake.  I have had no compatability issues.  Trouble is hauling the housing, the tapes, etc.  I am thinking about buying an Olympus TG-2 IHS which records in MOV/H.264 format.  One camera to do it all.
I am concerned about editing in iMovie since this format is a compressed format versus the digital tape.  Does anyone have any experience to share with this format in iMovie?

That will require conversion to a format that iMovie can use, which will give slight quality loss.
You forgot to mention what Mac you have, what verisons of OS X and iMovie, so:
iMovie 11 - cameras supported:
http://help.apple.com/imovie/cameras/en/index.html?lang=en_US
iMovie 9 - cameras supported:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3290?viewlocale=en_US
iMovie 8 Camcorders supported:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1014
Digital camera RAW formats supported by OS X Lion:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4757?viewlocale=en_US
Digital camera RAW formats supported by OS X Snow Leopard:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3825?viewlocale=en_US

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