which one to buy

right now im just using imovie. but when i buy my camera i will aslo be purchasing final cut. my imac is 10.4

thanks for the link ill check it out.

yes i know the hvx is alot more intense. but i found some on ebay for $3000 which is still in my budget and from what i have been reading the hvx is the best camera that doesnt cost $40,000. just one question will it work with final cut on OS X 10.4.

but there have been some issues getting the right codecs.

Consider reading through these before jumping into that - it is a LOT of camcorder...
http://discussions.apple.com/search.jspa?search=Go&q=hvx200

Personally, I would suggest investigating the Sony HVR Z1U, Z5U, Z7U, Canon XHA1 and XLH series first...

You still have not indicated if you are on a Intel Mac or a PPC... I am on MacOS 10.4 on one of my iMacs, too - and it is a PPC so I cannot deal with AVCHD on *that* machine even with the current versions of iMovie or FinalCut. Intel chip is required.

all the other cameras you have mentioned seem pretty good but they all use tapes which = porrer video quality. thats one of the reasons i was looking at the hvx200 for the p2 cards.

im not sure if its ppc or intel. can you point me in the right direction of where to find out.

i read through some of those articles and came across the hmc150. what do you think of this camera and how does it compare to the hvx200.

Based on the specs... AVCHD compression is at 21 mbps. HDV is 25 mbps, though with 1080/60i, 1080/30p, 1080/24p; 720/60p, 720/30p, 720/24p options available, I expect the video is very good. As well, good imaging chip and lens sizes are to be expected in a camera in this family - my experience is only with the HVX200.

I do not agree that just because a camcorder uses tapes that = poorer quality. It depends what information the camcorder writes to the storage media (whether tapes or hard drive or flash memory). The HVX200 can select to capture DVCPRO HD, DVCPRO 50, DVCPRO, DV formats. Presuming you are referring to the highest quality DVCPRO HD format, this can be written to tape by the AJ-HDX900 (though this is a much more expensive camcorder than the HMC150 or the HVX200, I am just making the point on the media type and "video quality" comment you tossed out).

I did not mean to turn you away from the HVX200. It is a very capable camcorder that has been around for several years. I merely wanted to point out that others have already bumped their collective head on the DVCPRO HD importing. Learning from them is way easier (and less painful) than your bumping your head in the same place. The importing can be done.

To identify whether Intel or PPC chip based, in the upper left corner, under the Apple, select "About this Macintosh".

i did want to know what other cameras were in the same legue as the hvx 200. its starting to look like the hvx200 will be perfect for my needs with a decent price and good video quality though.

my computer is running an intel processor by the way. what does this mean. is there a way i can use my hdr cx7 if i am only using imovie for now.

is running on an Intel processor, we need to know what version of iMovie is running on that machine.

The two most current versions can deal with AVCHD compressed video.

To understand which version of iMovie you are running, you have two ways:

1) In the Applications folder on the hard drive, locate the iMovie icon. click on it once with the the cursor to select it (not twice, that launches the application). At the top of the screen, under "File" select "Get Info" (or command I). Tell us the version reported in the dialog window.

2) Launch iMovie. and go through the motions of starting a new project by naming the project and selecting the video type and click create ot whatever the "accept" is at the bottom right of that screen. When you get to a stable iMovie project window, I think it is under the Apple again, select "About iMovie"...


iMovie 7 (sometimes referred to as iMovie '08 because it was shipped with iLife '0 was the first version to be able to deal with AVCHD files (tis is what your CX7 captures). The current version or iMovie '09 also can deal with AVCHD files. Previous versions - iMovie 6 and earlier - cannot deal with AVCHD files.

I will warn you, getting the HVX200 to play with iMovie will be problematic - I don't think iMovie handles DVCPRO-HD - but I could be wrong. Check the Apple site for video types it can deal with. It was challenging enough to get it to work with FinalCut Pro (and that was a few years ago - I don't recall how we finally got it done - it just started working. We were using a PowerBook with a PCMCIA slot to copy the video files - not firewire to import).

ahh there is the problem i have imovie 6.0.3.

i will be purchasing final cut the same time as i purchase the hvx. because you had those problems a few ago do you think a newer version of fcp would remedy these problems.

An $80 investment to iLife'09 will also get to the new version of iMovie if you want to give the CX7 another shot.

The camcorder you already have + $80 iLife'09 + $129 upgrade to Leopard (MacOSX ver10.5)... or $3,000+ for the HVX200 + $1,300 FinalCut Studio + $129 upgrade to Leopard... Even with the student discount, this is a pricey plunge.

Admittedly, the differences between the cameras are HUGE. The CX7 is consumer grade - the HVX200 is prograde... you are definitely jumping in the deep end. The requirements for tripods is also very different...

But, it is your money...

And another thing... Video uses a LOT of hard drive space and is very RAM and CPU intensive. If your Mac has less that 2 gig RAM, you need to increase that to 4 or more (not as much of an issue with HDV or DVCPRO, though it will help - a bigger issue with AVCHD). And an external hard drive is strongly recommended - 500 gig would be smallest for high definition video files - I use two 500 gig drives and yes, this is a hobby. You really don't want the video project files on the same drive as the start-up system.

is it really important to upgrade to lepeord? well there is a mac store at the collage im going to so i get it all half price so thats a bonus.

i want to plunge as deep as i can go haha. i love filming and editting alot its pretty much the only thing that goes through my head each day and the cx7 just cant handle my needs like the hvx could.

right now i have 2 gigs but i was planning on getting more in the near future. as for the hard drive currently i am using an 80 gig external. which doesnt seem like a whole lot any more lol.

Check the FinalCut or iMovie version you plan to use for the "minimum requirements". They are posted at the apple.com site at the product's web page.

One hour of imported HDV = ~44 gig of computer hard drive space.

NEVER let a hard drive fill completely. Have at least 15% available space (more is better).

Compelling content will trump technical capabilities every time.

I would also suggest that you not spend your entire budget on the camera. Optional high capacity batteries, wide angle, tele-macro and tele lenses, good tripod (your minimum for that camcorder starts in the $300 range of a Bogen-Manfrotto fluid-head or equivalent), SpiderBrace or equivalent shoulder mount, other steadying devices, shotgun mic, wireless lavs, stereo mic, boom pole, universal shock mount, lights, cases and lots of other stuff needs to be considered. The camera is only one part of the whole "system"...

The "Student version" FinalCut generally cannot be upgraded when the next version comes out. Sounds like a good deal up front - but be careful with that Academic discount plan.