New Dad in need of rec. for Mac/Smugmug friendly HD Camcorder

[m021478]

My wife and I will be having our first child in about 6 weeks from now (mid-March), and I am now trying to figure out what my best options are for picking myself up a new HD camcorder.

I use a Mac, and smugmug will be my primary method of sharing video with friends and family online, and I was hoping that someone might be able to recommend a truly k!ck-a$$ HD Camcorder that can be considered "Mac/Smugmug friendly"??

My idea of Smugmug friendly would be a camcorder that was capable of shooting at 1280x720 at 30fps (or 29.97 fps) using H.264 encoding...In other words, video that can be directly uploaded to smugmug without needing to spend hours converting, scaling, encoding, etc...

I would like a camcorder that offers 1280x720 as an option, but I would definitely want one that also shot in true hi-def (1920x1080)!

Not looking for one of those massive over the shoulder cameras (obviously), but I am also not really looking for something like the FlipMinoHD...I am probably in the market for one of these bad boys... (http://reviews.cnet.com/4370-6500_7-135-104.html)

I think an SD Flash Drive Camcorder would be right up my alley, because I've hear that on a 16GB SD card you can get approximately 2 hours of 1920x1080 video...and if this is true, that would be more than sufficient, and I could simply carry a spare 16GB SD card (or two) for unexpected situations that may arise...(can someone confirum this for me 2 hours of 1920x1080 video = approximately 16GB storage space required)

Any other factors in this equation that you guys think are really important for me to be aware of, then please do let me know...

Anyone have any suggestions for a soon-to-be Dad for a new camcorder?

[m021478]

Of course, I've just stumbled onto the soon-to-be-released Canon VIXIA HF S10 (http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=177&modelid=17993#ModelFeaturesAct)

...of course, it say that it won't be available until April of 2009!!

Any thoughts on whether or not this new Canon camcorder might be worth the wait? In the meantime, I could always buy the current top Canon model to use for the birth of my child, and then turn around and sell it once this one becomes available...How's that sound?

[Pupator]

I'm in the same boat - our first child was born on December 31 - and I'm eager to see what others suggest.

I've been looking mostly as Sony because in past experience they were head and shoulders above other brands in low light. I don't know if that's still the case?

[m021478]

Anyone out there able to help a couple of Dad's in need??

...please?

[waygard33]

Anyone out there able to help a couple of Dad's in need??

...please?

I've got the Sony HDR CX7 and really like it for it's size. I would definitely not describe it as automatic to Smugmug. I do have to convert the file but for me it's not a problem because I need to do some editing anyway.

I haven't converted to HD because I don't have the equipment to watch it with yet so no info for you there.

*In the 'Dad Stuff' thread below, I've posted links to a couple of edited basketball videos I made, if you want to see some results.

Good luck.

Wayne in Oregon

[Graham Cracker]

I just bought this camera and took it on a family trip to Colorado. The flash memory is the way to go. I have a 24"iMac and a Macbook Pro and the upload time was easy and fast. iLife '09 works well with this format and recognizes the camera immediately. It worked great on my Apple TV. I have not tried to upload to Smugmug yet. But considering how easy it was to put in the iMovie and iDVD format as well as post on facebook, I wouldn't see much difficulty. Congratualtions and good luck. Patrick

My wife and I will be having our first child in about 6 weeks from now (mid-March), and I am now trying to figure out what my best options are for picking myself up a new HD camcorder.

I use a Mac, and smugmug will be my primary method of sharing video with friends and family online, and I was hoping that someone might be able to recommend a truly k!ck-a$$ HD Camcorder that can be considered "Mac/Smugmug friendly"??

My idea of Smugmug friendly would be a camcorder that was capable of shooting at 1280x720 at 30fps (or 29.97 fps) using H.264 encoding...In other words, video that can be directly uploaded to smugmug without needing to spend hours converting, scaling, encoding, etc...

I would like a camcorder that offers 1280x720 as an option, but I would definitely want one that also shot in true hi-def (1920x1080)!

Not looking for one of those massive over the shoulder cameras (obviously), but I am also not really looking for something like the FlipMinoHD...I am probably in the market for one of these bad boys... (http://reviews.cnet.com/4370-6500_7-135-104.html)

I think an SD Flash Drive Camcorder would be right up my alley, because I've hear that on a 16GB SD card you can get approximately 2 hours of 1920x1080 video...and if this is true, that would be more than sufficient, and I could simply carry a spare 16GB SD card (or two) for unexpected situations that may arise...(can someone confirum this for me 2 hours of 1920x1080 video = approximately 16GB storage space required)

Any other factors in this equation that you guys think are really important for me to be aware of, then please do let me know...

Anyone have any suggestions for a soon-to-be Dad for a new camcorder?