Video Camera Help Please.
Discussion
Hello all.
About 18 months ago I bought a Sony DVD handycam. It's been fine for point and shoot and also for straight into DVD player easiness but it is utterly utterly crap for editing and also isn't compatible with Mac (must read small print).
So I'm in the market for a new camera. This time I was full Mac compatibility for editing, I'd prefer permanent media I think rather than a hard disc just because I'll always have a backup that way.
Other than that, I'm not sure about Sony because they seem to be non mactastic and I'm thinking I might as well go HD seeing as I have an HD t.v.
Do any of you have suggestions on media and camera or any other advice?
About 18 months ago I bought a Sony DVD handycam. It's been fine for point and shoot and also for straight into DVD player easiness but it is utterly utterly crap for editing and also isn't compatible with Mac (must read small print).
So I'm in the market for a new camera. This time I was full Mac compatibility for editing, I'd prefer permanent media I think rather than a hard disc just because I'll always have a backup that way.
Other than that, I'm not sure about Sony because they seem to be non mactastic and I'm thinking I might as well go HD seeing as I have an HD t.v.
Do any of you have suggestions on media and camera or any other advice?
Yes unfortunately you're missing what I was before I bought the bloody thing. Sony DVD handycams are editable only with great difficulty even on PC's. They are completely incompatible with any of the iLife apps like iMovie or even iDVD. The USB interface only works for transfer of still images with a Mac. On a PC it can be used for transfer of film but only then really for viewing as said before editing is near impossible.
Edited by Olf on Sunday 16th September 18:58
I'm missing what permanent media video is? Does that just mean tape?
When I looked around for my videocam a couple of years ago I was told that if you intend to go straight to TV then a DVD is fine but if you want to edit then you need tape or a hard drive. Given that the hard drives were still quite new at the time and DV tapes work well I went for tapes and probably would do again. It's still much easier to sling a batch of tapes in a bag rather than have to download off a full hard drive.
I tend to keep the used tapes for ages so I have a permanent copy, we also use a couple of hard drives at home so I transfer footage to two hard drives to avoid losing any.
When I looked around for my videocam a couple of years ago I was told that if you intend to go straight to TV then a DVD is fine but if you want to edit then you need tape or a hard drive. Given that the hard drives were still quite new at the time and DV tapes work well I went for tapes and probably would do again. It's still much easier to sling a batch of tapes in a bag rather than have to download off a full hard drive.
I tend to keep the used tapes for ages so I have a permanent copy, we also use a couple of hard drives at home so I transfer footage to two hard drives to avoid losing any.
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