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HD Camcorder advice for new Imac

F

Frank31

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 4, 2011
5
0
Hi all,

I just ordered the new iMac (the cheapest version). As it has thunderbolt, I wonder which camcorders support this technology.
My budget is around 350-400 dollars and I want to have a camcorder mainly to film family and friend-affairs (no professional stuff).
Which HD camcorder do you recommend that connects well with the new iMac?

Thanks in advance!

Frank
 
As flash memory used in consumer cameras is "slow", they are just fast enough to be used via USB. Using a camcorder with TB, which may arrive first in the professional products, then in prosumer cameras and then maybe in consumer ones, is not really helping you transfer your footage faster.
Here are iMovie '11 compatible camcorders: http://help.apple.com/imovie/cameras/en/index.html?lang=en_US

Maybe state your budget and we can help you further.
 
Thanks, that's really helpful.
So, if I understand it right, the new iMac with thunderbolt will not transfer the video faster from the camera you mention than an old iMac?

How long will it take, more or less, to transfer around 20 minutes of HD video from the camcorder to the iMac?
 
Frank31 said:
Thanks, that's really helpful.
So, if I understand it right, the new iMac with thunderbolt will not transfer the video faster from the camera you mention than an old iMac?
Click to expand...
Yes, as most consumer brand flash memory used in consumer cameras has a read speed of 20MB/s, maybe even 30MB/s. USB 2.0 is more than enough to transfer data at 30MB/s.

How long will it take, more or less, to transfer around 20 minutes of HD video from the camcorder to the iMac?
Click to expand...
That depends on the resolution of the source footage and the codec used, as iMovie or Final Cut Express / Pro transcode the footage during import, as the footage normally uses some very compressive codec, which is not meant for editing.
If you just want to transfer the footage to your iMac, without adding it to any editing application, then it will take around 9 minutes, if one assumes the footage is 10GB* in size and the transfer rate is 20MB/s.

* It will probably be smaller.
 
well, actually, I am planning to use Imovie11 to edit my videos...
 
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