Mac compatible high optical zoom video camera

flyingfisherman

Well-Known Member
Im wanting a decent video camera which can be used with mac OS, it has to have at least 20x optical mag and thats about my only spec.. Im not sure what video formats are supported by mac OS.

Any recommendations appreciated.
 
Hi there, most cameras ship with their own downloading software that generally doesn't work with macs, the good news is that you dont need it. Macs will by and large just swallow up your footage into programmes like imovie. (The majority of modern domestic cameras shoot AVCHD which will be fine into a mac and imovie.) So what sort of money do you want to spend is the big question? panasonic do some good video camcorders recording onto SD cards rather than tape, (I got a panasonic HD SD60 a few years ago for about £350 and its fine for what it is)
alternatively if youve already got (or want) a proper stills camera, look at the canon 7D, 60D or 550D & a 300mm lens - they all take great looking video nowadays plus you get a good stills camera too.
main thing is budget really, but its good fun shopping!
cheers
 
Thanks for the info, just read up a bit about AVCHD and imovie. Ive got a macbook pro so should support the AVCHD (there was some warning about processors..)

My budget is £300.. less preferrably! Just been looking at sony handycam HRD-CX115E.. doesnt seem too bad.. Any thoughts? I dont have a stills cam.
 
Not used one of these cameras but Sony kit is generally good, solid gear and it should play nicely with your macbook pro (is it a recent one?) you'll have to check what system software you're running (snow leopard, lion etc) for the right version of imovie but it should be fine.
 
Get yourself a copy of Final Cut Pro X and you should be able to work with pretty much any video format.
 
i need something for simpletons to use, basically a way to snip bits out, possibly stick music over the top and then stick on youtube..
 
Any Mac Progs are soo easy compared to equiv windows just thro on your mac and see what it does AVCHD best format allround.
 
High mag usually means crap footage at low light. Most decent camcorders have optical zoom of x10-12 max
 
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