Best camcorder for Ibook

A

Apple Novice

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Hi,
I'm looking to buy a camcorder for your usual family events, and I've never used one before, so consider me a point and shooter who'll probably love the auto function. It seems that nothing that's out there is readily compatible with Macs. Any suggestions?
Apple Novice
 
Hi Apple Novice,

Welcome to Macosx.com :)

You could have a look at iMovie '08 camcorder support if you plan on using it mostly with iMovie etc.

Movie supports most Mini DV tape-based camcorders that use a FireWire cable (also known as IEEE 1394 or i.Link) which support DV (standard definition) or HDV (high definition) formats.

iMovie also supports many tapeless camcorders that record to Flash Memory, Hard Drive (HDD), and DVD media. These random access devices use a USB 2.0 cable and include camcorders that support MPEG-2 (standard definition) and AVCHD (high definition) formats.
Click to expand...

There is also a list of what is known to work.
Or Final Cut reference page can be another practical reference, even though that page tends to have more expensive and more professional models, load really slow and hurt the eyes when the display light is not set to maximum.
 
I have done a lot with video and my Mac and let me tell you, there is nothing more fun on a computer! You can really get reeled into camcorder shopping with all the bells and whistles, but you will never ever need them. Given this, you can get a great camcorder for $500 or less. Besides, all the effects you need or want are in iMovie or FCP if you graduate to that (and if you get more involved in video, you really have to do this to really do all kinds of interesting things). I would still recommend a camcorder that uses mini-DV tapes. Burning right to DVD and mpeg formats isn't going to help you if you want to edit on your computer. A camcorder with mini-DV tapes writes DV files, not compressed mpeg files. By a cheap tape rewinder to save your camera's motor.

Do some research online and find a few cameras with good reputations for reliability and quality. Then go try them out. Find one that feels good in your hands. Try the zoom - can you control it? If not, go to the next one.

You really can't go wrong with some of the Canons or Panasonics. Sony is always a good name, I have one, and though they have slipped in reliability, I have had zero problems. Also, look for cameras with standard sized lens mounts for filters. Alas, my Sony has a weird size thread and I paid through the nose for various filters and add ons.

Digital zoom is worthless. Trust me, what you will find you want is the exact opposite of zoom - wide angle and more more more.

Shooting indoors is tough. Hardly any consumer camera can handle these low light conditions without adding tons of grainy grain. Various lights that attach to your camera are lousy and eat batteries to death. I you can set it up indorros, use regular cheap lamps from a hardware store and white cardboard to diffuse and reflect.

Finally, you will find online prices way way below everyone else and you will be very very tempted. There is a whole world of shameless onlline camera theives out there. THey will sell you cameras without lenses or batteries, never ship your order, never call you back and worse. Most are in NY and they are scum of the earth. You can read all the horror stories online, but please please please just trust me on this. Buy your camera from a local store or Crutchfield, but nobody else online.

Good luck!
 
One more message. Video is huge and large video files are not good for your system drive! You will need an external firewire drive if you are dealing with just a few mini-DVs worth of video.
 
karavite said:
You can really get reeled into camcorder shopping with all the bells and whistles, but you will never ever need them. Given this, you can get a great camcorder for $500 or less. Besides, all the effects you need or want are in iMovie or FCP if you graduate to that (and if you get more involved in video, you really have to do this to really do all kinds of interesting things). I would still recommend a camcorder that uses mini-DV tapes. Burning right to DVD and mpeg formats isn't going to help you if you want to edit on your computer. A camcorder with mini-DV tapes writes DV files, not compressed mpeg files.
Click to expand...

I agree with this completely. There are a lot of flashy, expensive cameras out there in the consumer market that are "surplus to requirement". iMovie and Final Cut can handle all your editing and effects better than any camera could. You don't need or want DVD recording on camera. HDD recording is nice, but hardly worth an extra $500 (minimum) over a cheap DV camera. And at the end of the day, DV is the higher quality format, because HDD and DVD cameras compress their video.

This is one of the rare cases where cheaper is often better. Just take a look at the entry level DV models from a few good brands, try them out a bit, and pick one you like the feel of.
 
Cheaper cameras may be better in some ways, but they will often have poor low-light performance, or bad image quality. While the most expensive camera is not the best, you don't want to go too low either.

The new iMovie is supposed to play nice with HDD or DVD recording, but personally, I would stick with MiniDV. It's a cheap way to record, high quality, and you can bring as many tapes as you want, whereas a HDD will have limited space, and recording onto DVDs will just create a lot of DVDs.

I would look at camcorder reviews, and find one with good performace, without all the gizmos that you don't want or need. camcorderinfo.com might be a good place to start, I've looked at camcorders there before.
 
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