replacement camcorder for tandems, etc

[angryelf 0]

My Sony CX100 is just about done... Guess that 4 years of abuse is a lot to expect from modern electronics.

Anyway: I want to replace it. I use a GoPro for most of my personal skydiving videos b/c it records to MP4 format that is easy for me to drag and drop into iMovie (I'm not a super wicked smart computer guy by any stretch).

Every DZ I've been to lately is set up for Sony CX cameras and run Vegas or simliar to edit. My CX USED TO allow me to plug the camera into my Mac and I could drag and drop into iMovie. Now it's a crap shoot as to if it will work or not. I've never been able to plug the cards into my computer as Sony's PMB/avchd/codex? crap doesn't play well with Mac. As a byproduct I only use the CX for paid jumps, don't ever use it for my own stuff and am getting frustrated with having a higher quality camera that cost way more, with a zoom ability that I never use b/c I am afraid I will lose really cool footage.

Is there a current flash card recording, zoomable, decent quality HD consumer/camcorder on the market that will plug and play with Mac that I can use to shoot paying videos with? It needs to have decent audio, etc for Tandems and AFF customers, be compatible w hypoxic camera light, would like to pay less than $500 for it. I want an easy to use camera that I can skydive with, etc and run it on both PC (for at the DZ) and Mac (for at home).

I'm about 3 sec away from buying a Hero2 and taking the easy way out for video.

Thanks!

-Harry

"Sometimes you eat the bar,
and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

[DSE 5]

Quote

My Sony CX100 is just about done... Guess that 4 years of abuse is a lot to expect from modern electronics.

Anyway: I want to replace it. I use a GoPro for most of my personal skydiving videos b/c it records to MP4 format that is easy for me to drag and drop into iMovie (I'm not a super wicked smart computer guy by any stretch).

Every DZ I've been to lately is set up for Sony CX cameras and run Vegas or simliar to edit. My CX USED TO allow me to plug the camera into my Mac and I could drag and drop into iMovie. Now it's a crap shoot as to if it will work or not. I've never been able to plug the cards into my computer as Sony's PMB/avchd/codex? crap doesn't play well with Mac. As a byproduct I only use the CX for paid jumps, don't ever use it for my own stuff and am getting frustrated with having a higher quality camera that cost way more, with a zoom ability that I never use b/c I am afraid I will lose really cool footage.

Is there a current flash card recording, zoomable, decent quality HD consumer/camcorder on the market that will plug and play with Mac that I can use to shoot paying videos with? It needs to have decent audio, etc for Tandems and AFF customers, be compatible w hypoxic camera light, would like to pay less than $500 for it. I want an easy to use camera that I can skydive with, etc and run it on both PC (for at the DZ) and Mac (for at home).

I'm about 3 sec away from buying a Hero2 and taking the easy way out for video.

Thanks!

-Harry

psssssttttt....there is nothing proprietary about the AVCHD codec...it's that Apple chooses to not directly support MPEG. Has zip to do with Sony, Panasonic, or Canon....
MP4 *is* AVC.

All that said..iMovie can log/import. So can Premiere. Premiere will make your Mac operate video as though it were a PC running Vegas.
Or put bootcamp on your Mac and run Windows on the other half and you can read any codec you want. Your Mac already has an AVCHD decoder built into the CPU; iMovie and Final Cut won't allow you access to it. Premiere uses it, and the Windows side of a Bootcamp install will access it too. No conversion, super fast.

In short, any CX series will do great. Other than the lens and audio, the Hero 2 is a pretty decent little camera but IMO, it's ugly as hell for outside camera. And it doesn't zoom.

[angryelf 0]

So stick with the CX series cameras, buy premier and it will work with Mac. Thanks!

"Sometimes you eat the bar,
and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

[faulknerwn 38]

All of at my dz use Somy cx series cameras and they work just fine with (the latest) iMovie. And the version before that actually. I don't drag and drop - a window just pops up in iMovie when I plug in the card and I import from there.

Perhaps you are using an old version of iMovie?

[angryelf 0]

I got the window with mine for a long time with no problem. Then my cards got used at the dz (I suspect a virus), and the camera would not show up in iMovie (but showed up as an external storage device on the computer). After I reformatted the cards, they worked for a while, now only the internal memory on the camera works, and that is very hit or miss.

Will get a new camera and see how it does. Thanks!

-Harry

"Sometimes you eat the bar,
and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."