We have bought dozens of Sanyo pistol grip "dual cameras" over the years which have great optical zoom features and record in native mp4 up to fullHD resolution and are fully compatible with Macs and do great still photos as wel as video. They record onto SD cards so you don't need a USB cable - just plug the SD card into the Mac's SD slot and away you go. They're available in waterproof and more standard camera form factors as well as the pistol grip style.
The VPC-HD2000 records in iMovie-native mpeg4 format (iFrame compatible) so needs no lengthy transcoding to import into iMovie. Might still be a bit pricier than your budget though. http://us.sanyo.com/Dual-Cameras/VPC-HD2000ABK-Full-1080p-HD-Video-and-8MP-Digital-Photos Martin HILL iLecture Systems Team leader | Curtin Teaching & Learning Curtin University Tel | +61 8 9266 3101 Mobile | 0401 103 194 Email | [email protected] Web | ilectures.curtin.edu.au On 23/08/2012, at 11:15 AM, Alan Smith <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Blitto > > Are you looking for recommendations for a camcorder or an external webcam? > > Susan raised a key point - what kind of project? Do you need to record to > the MacBook Airs, or to edit video recorded elsewhere? > > My need was to emulate a built-in webcam for video conference calls. Would > have loved to be able to use an ordinary video camcorder for this purpose. I > also looked at the possibility of using my Canon camcorder (AVCHD coding) as > a USB camera for direct iMovie recording. No success. I understand some old > firewire DV camcorders might work. I did a brief search for camcorder to > webcam software converters but had no success. Forum articles seem to stop > discussing the issue about 6 years ago. > > I bought a Logitech c615 HD webcam (USB) for under $100. It has a fixed > focus. I use it with an "active" 5 metre USB extension cord. There are a > couple of other Mac compatible Logitech webcams listed on their website. At > least one had a telephoto function (which would have been better) but that > was not immediately available locally. > > Cheers > Alan > > > > On 23/08/2012, at 8:04 AM, Susan Hastings <[email protected]> wrote: > > I'm wondering what sort of a project. Most stills cameras have good video > capabilities these days, to the extent that I would not actually buy a video > camera unless it was for shooting adventurous stuff like kayaking or > surfing, in which case I'd get a GoPro action type video setup. > > I've had video cameras in the past, but now tend to choose one of my stills > cameras when I want to capture video, with excellent results. > > It also depends on how much zoom you want, as well. > > A Sony DSC HX9V captures good video quality, stereo sound of reasonable > quality given its a small camera, and since you can record at 60 frames per > second, it can be adjusted to smooth slow motion video. It's been out for > about a year so shouldn't be very expensive to buy. > > Any video is space hungry, so they will need an external hard drive for > storage which I think can be set up in iMovie. > > This is just my opinion, I'm sure you'll get lots of ideas. > > Sent from my iPad > > On 23/08/2012, at 6:21 AM, Rod Blitvich <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Hi Guys >> Havent bought a video camera for a few years. >> My kids with Macbook airs need something a bit better than the built in >> camera for a special project. >> No Firewire, just usb. >> >> Please - any recommendations? Under $500 >> >> ta >> blitto >> >> >> Rod Blitvich - Amy & Sam’s Dad >> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . >> Good Ideas >> 0409 681 256 >> [email protected] >> >> >> -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- >> Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml> >> Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml> >> Settings & Unsubscribe - >> <http://lists.wamug.org.au/listinfo/wamug.org.au-wamug> > -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- > Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml> > Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml> > Settings & Unsubscribe - > <http://lists.wamug.org.au/listinfo/wamug.org.au-wamug> > > -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- > Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml> > Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml> > Settings & Unsubscribe - > <http://lists.wamug.org.au/listinfo/wamug.org.au-wamug> -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml> Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml> Settings & Unsubscribe - <http://lists.wamug.org.au/listinfo/wamug.org.au-wamug>
