Which HDD HD Camcorder Canon HG-10 or JVC GZ-HD7

Question

I have been searching these forums an I have a few questions and clarifications. I am trying to decided which camcorder to purchase. My concerns are compatibility with my iMAC(S) I currently have a 2.0 GHz/ 2g of RAM iMac G5 which we have dedicated to Aperture 1.5 and iLife, etc. but not in my I am leaning towards the Canon due to the Fact that it is listed in on the compatible camcorder list and I don't see the HD7 listed, however I see tons of people on this forum use this camera.
My goal is to be able to take both HD and high quality SD video. I want to be able to plug the camcorder into the computer transfer the video data( for editing/storage/production), unplug and be ready to go quickly, we have Stacks of MiniDV tapes which take forever to upload into the computer(realtime), so I think HDD is the way to go.
I am confused about the difference between the Formats of the two cameras (AVCHD and MPEG 2) Can some please explain the difference, pros and cons (I am a novice) practically speaking. This is an investment so I would like to purchase a camera that will not be outdated in a few months.
Lastly, what can you play the HD movies on. I have apple TV, will that work? do I need a Blue ray player of something like that. I great appreciate your assistance.

Answer 1

SeanMurtha wrote:
I have been searching these forums an I have a few questions and clarifications. I am trying to decided which camcorder to purchase. My concerns are compatibility with my iMAC(S) I currently have a 2.0 GHz/ 2g of RAM iMac G5 which we have dedicated to Aperture 1.5 and iLife, etc. but not in my I am leaning towards the Canon due to the Fact that it is listed in on the compatible camcorder list and I don't see the HD7 listed, however I see tons of people on this forum use this camera.
My goal is to be able to take both HD and high quality SD video. I want to be able to plug the camcorder into the computer transfer the video data( for editing/storage/production), unplug and be ready to go quickly, we have Stacks of MiniDV tapes which take forever to upload into the computer(realtime), so I think HDD is the way to go.
I am confused about the difference between the Formats of the two cameras (AVCHD and MPEG 2) Can some please explain the difference, pros and cons (I am a novice) practically speaking. This is an investment so I would like to purchase a camera that will not be outdated in a few months.
Lastly, what can you play the HD movies on. I have apple TV, will that work? do I need a Blue ray player of something like that. I great appreciate your assistance.
First, if you burn a DVD in h.264 format (AVCHD) I think you can play it on a bluray, but NOT in standard DVD. However, you can create a standard DVD (from iDVD) from other editing/authoring software like toast. I am not sure, but I think you can use iDVD for that as well.
Second, you are right, hard-drive cameras is the way of the future, so you can really just "Plug & Play"
Third, MPEG 2 is one of the most widely used formats for video enconding, you see it everyday, is what is inside DVD's, every blockbuster or Hollywood DVD has mpeg 2 inside. Much of what you receive in your TV etc, was coded on mpeg 2. There are many video cameras that code in mpeg 2.
The answer really lies on "where are planning to see the ultimate video result????", AppleTV, burned DVD to carry around, or in your computer??? what are you planning to do with it??
AppleTV only supports H.264, it will play indeed HD. If you want the family videos etc to be there, that is the way. If you are into DVD production/authoring, mass distribution etc, maybe MPEG 2 is better, however, you can always transcode to mpeg2 from other formats.
AVHCD or h.264 is MPEG-4, or a type of MPEG 4. No so you know. Although MPEG 2 is usually a small file, when you export to AppleTV (because of the bit-rate), the files are usually even smaller in your new h.264.
If you are leaning towards mpeg 2
iMovie 08 is made to import mpeg 2 "only directly from the camera", if you have other mpg's lying around your harddrive you need to do a workaround (we could get into that later, it is easy and free).
Keep in mind "mpeg 2 is not really meant for editing, but for delivering", it is becasue fo the group of images concept. Anyway, iMovie 08 can hadle them if you need to.
Also, as long as you have the MPEG 2 component for Quicktime ($19.99 from apple), you should be able to play back, transcode etc, anytime using quicktime, or other MAGNIFICENT, "FREE", EASY TO USE MPEG Streamclip, from squarefive.com. Many people finds streamclip as a more useful interface.
In summary, both formats would be easy to use, reasonable size, good quality, durable standard, widely available, iMovie 08 can handle both, you can author easily, and the software to handle them is either on you mac already, free, or really cheap anyway.
Be careful with the fact you have a PPC and not Intel, although if not now, in the future you will move to intel processor.