[worx3d]

@ Brian Chen...



Thanks for your reply. I don't care much about importing time. Actually the main reason I bought this camcorder is that I want to buy the Canon XH-A1 in the near future and I would use the HV30 as a deck to import A1's footage, and don't use the A1's heads more than it is necessary.

But my concern was, if I am investing in technology that will be pashed out soon. I don't want to find myself in two years having trouble finding miniDV tapes. Other than that... I'm enjoying the HV30 very, very much as a family camcorder.

[Alphaman]

From the sounds of Brian's blog entry, the problem was created with a software change in QuickTime, and both Sanyo and Apple recognize that and are working on the necessary QuickTime fix to rectify it.

I think the question is not if "it can get corrected with a software fix", but "how quickly will they release a software fix", at least for the Sanyos.

[Alphaman]

worx3d said:

I recently bought a Vixia HV30, a Canon miniDV HD camcorder, and so far I like it very, very much.

Now, I still feel that I am not sure if I'm missing something by not going with a tapeless camcorder. What would be the disadvantages of a miniDV camcorder compared to a tapeless camcorder?.. besides the fact that I get to have a collection of small tapes... which actually I like, I like the feel of having a backup of my videos...

why would you go with a tapeless?

Lots of reasons. First off, you have to plug your tape camcorder in with firewire and then basically play back the entire tape to get to a clip at the end. With tapeless, it's totally random access -- this is a huge plus.

I can fit way over an hour's worth of HD video on a $30 8gb SD card, and can carry tons of them in my pocket (at least as much as my wallet will support!) or store multiple card images on my pocket-sized, SDHC-compatible, multimedia hard disk.

And then there's the size -- my camcorder weighs in at 7.4 oz and fits in my pocket. And the only moving part in my camcorder is the zoom lens -- startup time is about 2 seconds from power button to recording HD. No tapes to tension, no tapes to mount, no tapes to stretch and break.

Don't get me wrong, there are still reasons to use tape, but those needs are getting fewer and further between as each successive generation of tapeless camcorder comes out. It probably won't be long before tape is a quaint novelty on the back shelves at Circuit City.

[tallscot]

Quote

I think the question is not if "it can get corrected with a software fix", but "how quickly will they release a software fix", at least for the Sanyos.

Just about every Apple product I'm using right now has a serious issue that I'm waiting for Apple to fix. Sigh.

[tallscot]

>Lots of reasons. First off, you have to plug your tape camcorder in with firewire and then basically play back the entire tape to get to a clip at the end. With tapeless, it's totally random access -- this is a huge plus.

Only if you don't have to transcode it. How long does it take to transcode and import 2 hours of HD? More than 2 hours?

[Martian]

With all this discussion, it is not clear to me whether there is a Mac compatibility issue that goes beyond HARDWARE.
In other words, will there ever be a Mac compatibility issue if all recording is done on memory cards like SD’s which can be read by the Mac using a generic card reader?

[tallscot]

Martian said:

With all this discussion, it is not clear to me whether there is a Mac compatibility issue that goes beyond HARDWARE.

In other words, will there ever be a Mac compatibility issue if all recording is done on memory cards like SD’s which can be read by the Mac using a generic card reader?

You can read the card and transfer the files, but what are you going to do with it if iMovie won't work with those files? iMovie edits DV and MPEG4 natively. That's it. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[moose_n_squirrel]

tallscot said:

Just about every Apple product I'm using right now has a serious issue that I'm waiting for Apple to fix. Sigh.

It's very sad because we spend all this time trying to convince people that the Mac is plug-and-play with new hardware, but for video cameras, ease of importing on the Mac seems to have begun and ended with MiniDV. Apple's neglect has squandered its once-mighty consumer video advantage in a collapse of Hillary-esque proportions.

[BrianChen]

"Hillary-esque proportions." I like that; couldn't have put it any better ;)

[tallscot]

[quote name='moosensquirrel']
>

tallscot said:

> Just about every Apple product I'm using right now has a serious issue that I'm waiting for Apple to fix. Sigh.

It's very sad because we spend all this time trying to convince people that the Mac is plug-and-play with new hardware, but for video cameras, ease of importing on the Mac seems to have begun and ended with MiniDV. Apple's neglect has squandered its once-mighty consumer video advantage in a collapse of Hillary-esque proportions.

Yeah, I feel the same way. They are squandering any switchers they get from Windows PCs with this crap.

[Alphaman]

tallscot said:

>Lots of reasons. First off, you have to plug your tape camcorder in with firewire and then basically play back the entire tape to get to a clip at the end. With tapeless, it's totally random access -- this is a huge plus.

Only if you don't have to transcode it. How long does it take to transcode and import 2 hours of HD? More than 2 hours?

Sorry, I can't answer that question, as I don't have to transcode from my Sanyo Xacti HD1 -- iMovie08 works with its output natively.

[macFanDave]

My Digital 8 Sony TRV-103 always worked like a champ with iMovie. At first I found it spooky that I could control the camera from my Mac, but that is the beauty of FireWire. So, Apple's ease-of-use with video started at least with Digital 8 which predates miniDV.

[Martian]

It would be helpful if Mac publications like Macworld would periodically, like 2-4 times per year, run a state-of-the-Mac report card. This would gather into one honest chart just where Mac is winning and where it is loosing.
In addition to just plain good journalism, such a periodic feature would pressure Apple (and its resident control freak) to keep its/his eye on the ball — ball being Apple’s core Macintosh business.

[tallscot]

[quote name='Alphaman']
>

tallscot said:

> >Lots of reasons. First off, you have to plug your tape camcorder in with firewire and then basically play back the entire tape to get to a clip at the end. With tapeless, it's totally random access -- this is a huge plus.
>
> Only if you don't have to transcode it. How long does it take to transcode and import 2 hours of HD? More than 2 hours?

Sorry, I can't answer that question, as I don't have to transcode from my Sanyo Xacti HD1 -- iMovie08 works with its output natively.

The Sanyo camcorders are the only ones I have found that don't require transcoding. The others use AVCHD or MPEG2, from what I've read. Correct me if I'm wrong. You only need to transcode if you want to edit in iMovie.

If you want to just copy the movies to your HD and then stream them to your TV, you can do that with MPEG4 and MPEG2 camcorders using NullRiver's MediaLink and a PS3.