Camcorders compatible with Macs?

[dwelly]

Until I mentioned it to one of my mates, I had thought all miniDV camcorders were compatible with Macs and there would be no problem about editing on a Mac.

However he says some of the stuff I've been reading about Sony and Canon is wrong and that I should check it out with you guys.

Is he right? Are there some cams which aren't compatible?

[tonedef]

Im pretty sure that most cameras if not all would work on a mac. Why wouldnt they? Im guessing your freind is a PC user.

Ive used quite a few cameras and camcorders with my macs and have never run into any problems.

[senu]

Some ( AVCHD) Camcorders and a few older SD HDD camcorders had Mac compatibility issues .. not MinIDV AFAIK:

The other issue is of course the well known (somewhat) limited Mac Software scenario.
In the case of the SD HDD it was simply drivers for transfer via USB from camcorder rather than incompatibility of video format

A less talked about analogy is the Windows Vista "issue" where a lot of things work until you suddenly hit a wobbly and realise it isn't Windows XP all dressed up!

[redsox_mark]

Correct, DV is DV, no issues with Mac compatibility. The issues are generally with the MPEG based formats, where iMovie doesn't support it and supplied editing software may not run on Mac.

[dwelly]

Thank you for the feedback guys. I'll be happy to pass on the good news at work on Monday!

DV out tranfers-Surely iLink (as in iPod) was an Apple-Mac originated spec but Sony didn't like the Apple association so coined the term Firewire.(which is now IEEE1394) But they are all one and the same! iLink was the terminology used for DV-PC transfer in the latter part of the last century - I believe before Sony had any DV camcorders on the market. Indeed when I bought my first DV camcorder in 1999 I had heard of iLink but it was not until I started to buy a new PC in late 2004 that I became aware of the alternative Firewire description of the same protocol.

[redsox_mark]

iLink is a Sony term. But it's just a name... as you said the technology is the same.

Originally Posted by redsox_mark

iLink is a Sony term. But it's just a name... as you said the technology is the same.

I'll check on that Mark but I am sure that like all i- brands its a Apple-mac Brand right and the converse as i quoted is true. ... off to Google!.

Hi Redsox-Mark

Apologies you are right amazingly its the other way round!

The story is as follows apparently:

Firewire was evidently developed first and the rights to the name and technology reside with Apple.

From this the IEEE1394 spec was defined

Sony registered the name iLink for their implementation of IEEE1394.

Even more amazing that the iXyyy brand is now 100% associated with Apple (iPhone next)

[senu]

True, even to this day Sony camcorders ( Laptops and PCs) call their firewire ports the I-link port
Apple would have long since fired off Lawsuits if it had been their name!