Mac and Video Camera (MiniDVD, MiniDV and USB)

[garysims]

Hi,

I got my first Mac about 2 months ago and I am really hooked!!! I don't own a camcorder but the applications that come with iLife (I have '05) look quite good for making quick DVDs etc of family stuff (just like the advert says)...

So I am looking to buy a camcorder. I went to the local store and this is what I discovered. There seems to be two main digital variants MiniDV and now also MiniDVD which writes to a small 80mm DVD disk (which holds about 30 mins of video).

First question... Will my Mac Mini (Intel) read those mini DVD disks. Does the slot loader know how to handle them and does OS X understand the video files written to that disk. Will I be able to use them with iMovie and iDVD?

AS for the MiniDV camcorders, they seem to come in 4 varieties, some don't have any FireWire or USB ports on them at all (as far as I could see). Some have only FireWire, some have only USB and some have both.

Second question, I am guessing that OS X will work with just about any FireWire camcorder without the need for special software. What about the USB ones, will my Mac recognize them?

OK, that all for now!

Thanks in advance for your help!

Gary

[MisterMe]

Two words: miniDV FireWire

A slot-loading optical drive cannot handle miniDVD. Do not attempt to insert them. If you are a Mac user with dreams of being Steven Spielberg, miniDVD is not for you even if you have a tray-loading optical drive. MiniDVD is intended for playback only. If you want to edit miniDVD, you need to RIP it to an editable format. This will lower its quality.

FireWire is a video standard. USB is not. It is virtually certain that any name brand camcorder featuring FireWire is Mac-compatible. It is also virtually certain that any camcorder featuring USB without FireWire is not.

[ora]

I second MisterMe, the only real option is firewire and miniDV, firewire is actually faster than USB2 for sustained transfer anyway, and Mac plays nicely with it. That's what I used when i was being taught production/editing etc.

[garysims]

Guys,

Thanks, this is EXACTLY the information I was looking for... Now I can buy in confidence.


Thanks again.

Gary

[ora]

Hi Gary,

A few more tips, most modern cameras o, but it's better to have one that can take input from firewire as well as output on firewire to your mac. This allows you to archive your edited films onto miniDV tape. The low end sony camera used to do output from the camera only but i suspect this has changed now.

Also, if you want to get into playing with video, you tend to use up HD space pretty quickly. I invested in a relatively cheap external HD to use as a scratch disc for video and it worked pretty well, though that was on Final Cut not iMovie so you may not need one.

Let us know which camera you are considering.

Owen

[wraith]

Check out Canon and Panasonic miniDV camcorders. Many a Mac user has had great success with those.

[garysims]

Guys,

Just to let you know I got a Sony Handycam DCR-HC23 and it works just great with OS X and iMovie and iDVD etc.

Thanks for all the advise.

Thanks,

Gary

[ora]

No problem gary, we're always happy to help out. I hope you stick around!