1) when buying a new camera:

What should I be aware of?  I saw this below as an example

HD Movie recording with built-in HDMI Imagine having HD video recording capabilities in a camera that fits in the palm of your hand. One that delivers impressive 720p HD quality video at 30 frames per second. With the H.264 format that offers recording time 2 times longer than MPEG-4 and 4 times longer than MJPEG video. And this camera lets you get creative – just use one of its many cool effects, such as sketch mode. Then hook it up to any HDTV or HD monitor with an HDMI and you’re ready to share all the HD action.

Sounds very much like a consumer level camera... and without more details it would be tough to say what to look out for...

I think the best way to ask this question is...like this:  I need a camera to shoot this {fill in the blank} type of camera work.  Could be family video type shooting... could be you need compactness because you travel... could be you want good indoor video (...which is more difficult to achieve with a lot of consumer level camera... but, not all consumer level cameras)... could be all I have mentioned... could be... well, you get my point.

Describe what you want to shoot would be a better way to start your question.  How you intend to use the camera is a much better way to get good responses.

What to look out for...?   Hmmm.... well, in general that could be a lot of things... but, the most common mistake I see is getting a camera that shoots in a file format that you do not have the editing software and/or computer power to edit the materal (H264 is definately one of those formats - but, it is just about the only HD format used by todays consumer level camera's - and yes that looks as strange as I wrote). 

In your case, it appears you have the bare minimum computer power... but, for 720p you should be OK provided your video card and HD isn't under "powered".  Video cards are just as important as CPU power... Disk Size means much less compared to the speed (i.e., rpm speed and cach memory) of the HD.  Describing your HD speed and your video card would be very helpful for others to provide some feedback.  Also, make sure you have firewire IF that model requires a fireware to download... chances are if it is file based like the H264 you mentioned in your post... you only need a good SD (i.e., meaning a fast SD card - level 5 or higher and more costly than the typical SD card) and a USB connection.

 All that being said, I think there may be other camera specific forums that might be more useful for you to do a search of the posts to help you make a decision.  Oh and BTW, if you post gets moved to another section of this site... it's not because the monitors of the site are mean... but, rather they simply try and keep things more organized for the site as a whole.

My innocent question got mixed review.

Perhaps I should have worded the question like this   ( I am not a professional Videographer )

I Want to Know

1) if a  MPEG-4 can be directly imported to MC5 , via a cheap camera?

2) do I have to buy a Canon VIXIA HV40 Camcorder - 1080p , rather than an digital camera to get HD to work with MC5..

Please be patient with me

Thanks in advance.

k

Moving this thread to the General Discussions Forum.

Hi,

keithkowal:

if a  MPEG-4 can be directly imported to MC5 , via a cheap camera?

If these are regular old Quicktime files, then you can use the AMA feature of MC5 to bring them in.  If they're some weird proprietary version of MPEG4 then you might have issues.

keithkowal:

do I have to buy a Canon VIXIA HV40 Camcorder - 1080p , rather than an digital camera to get HD to work with MC5

You mean do you have to buy that specific camera?  No.  There are a lot of cameras that will work.  Like Joe says, I think you're not getting a good answer because your questions are too broad.  What do you intend to do with the camera?  Do you need to access the footage quickly for a fast turnaround?  Would you rather have a tape or card based camera?  

My only other piece of advice is HDV cameras seem to cause more issues for Media Composer than other types.  I don't know if that's because HDV is flaky or if I'm only seeing problematic posts because people don't post about their HDV success stories, but I'd keep it in mind.

ciao,
Carl 

keithkowal:

My innocent question got mixed review.

Perhaps I should have worded the question like this   ( I am not a professional Videographer )

I Want to Know

1) if a  MPEG-4 can be directly imported to MC5 , via a cheap camera?

2) do I have to buy a Canon VIXIA HV40 Camcorder - 1080p , rather than an digital camera to get HD to work with MC5..

Please be patient with me

Thanks in advance.

k

In general... rest assured... no matter the camera buy... when you first try to capture the video and/or copy the files to your drive... there is a good chance that tape based video will have some sort of issue... nothing major - perhaps... but, something will not go exactly right.  But... rest assured... there is somewhere on the internet you can post your problem and it is will be solved.  Also, m2t files captured from tapes can have their problems when bringing into any editing application.

Same is true for file based camera (vs. taped based cameras) but their problems lie specifically in some sort of editing application conflict with the camera codec.  Again, post and you will find an answer.

The reason these problems exist is because of two reasons:

1) ...the camera codecs used today are varied and not editing friendly.

2) ...as a user might have little experience in both the capture process for the new camera and how to use the editing application.

Both of these are easily overcome through experience and asking questions when you have problems.... which are certain be somewhere hiding in your new camera.

In the end, there is no single "perfect" camera.  All cameras have the potential for something to occur unexpectedly.

You should only look at DSLR by me.

The quality is excellent, the integration with everything is very good (not only MC).

But they are not camcorders. You should know (or learn) what to do.

Some of them are very cheap (my Canon 550D).

HDV is not flaky. MC started to like it after MC5.

That doesn't make it flaky. The quality is very good also.

sverkalo:

HDV is not flaky. MC started to like it after MC5.

That doesn't make it flaky.

I don't know if HDV is flaky or if it is not, but I know I see a lot of posts on here from people having trouble with HDV capture.  If I were buying a new camera, I'd look carefully at any HDV camera, and go so far as to test it out with MC before committing to it.

ciao,
Carl 

I have also but only inside MC.

Things got better @MC5.

This is a great response - I beliieve you answered my question (one persons perspective).

I stated before that I'm not a professional - I do alot of indoor video with my grandson(s)

I want to make an investment, a new camera , that can capture HD .... I simply see alot

of choices , but I want to buy somehitng that works, with no problems (with MC5),

I've had good luck with my old Sony (DV tape) , using generic setting.   But doing the

HD switch I'm sure will not be totallly smooth, but I want to ask about other people experiences and camera

selection process(s)..... I would like to spend less than $1000

1)  will MC5 import (capture MPEG-4)?

2) does USB2 or firewire prefered ?

Thank you for your responses

if you have anything to add

email me    [email protected] or simply respond here

You can AMA link (MC5) or import mp4 files.

For capture you can use only firewire but that leaves out the DSLR.

Because DSLR produces mpeg4 but files.

Nothing to capture there.