Camcorder question-I'd be so grateful for suggestions!?

Question

I just got a Macbook, and I wanna try some programs like iDVD and iMovie...unfortunately, the video camera(DCR-TRV460 from Sony) does not handle this well. I'm looking for alternative camcorders, under $ 100, that would be EXTREMELY easy to use in iMovie(all I'm looking for is something where the Mac sees the device, shows me the videos(hopefully long) and lets me place them into iMovie. It should be able to hold 3-4 hours of average quality tape.

Is what I'm looking for possible?

Answer 1

Sorry, but you're not going to get 3-4 hours of good quality video on a single piece of recording media in a camera under $100. Okay think of it this way. If you have the money for a Macbook, then you have the money for a decent camera. No offense, but so many people nowadays get a mac or a really nice PC, and then you find out they're still using VHS or Hi8 cameras or something like that. If you're just looking for ease of use, and not really for high quality. In this case, a cheap flash memory camera is great (although it won't hold anywhere close to 3-4 hours, unless it's set at lowest quality, and even then it won't come close). Aiptek has some average-quality cameras which may suit you fine for under $100, but of course recording time is limited by how big of a card you use. Another option is DV cameras. Since all Macs have firewire, it'll be no problem for you, but it won't be quite as easy to use as flash memory, because instead of individual video files, you have to search through the tape to capture videos onto your hard drive as files, and then they will be 1GB per minute before editing. However, the plus side is that they offer very high quality, and a $500 miniDV cam's quality will be very noticeable. I've heard good things about the canon elura 100, and I think that's around $400-$500. Hope this helps!