A Sanyo HD1A and a Mac
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My wife and I have been wanting to purchase a video camera for a while now. We knew we wanted digital and that we wanted it to play nice with iLife. Other than that, I was open to anything.
One of the cameras that had some promise was the Sanyo HD1A. (Pictured above.) It has small and clean and it records 720 HD videos. I searched around the web looking for some nice sample footage from a real user. I found some on HD1A.com and it looked pretty good.
The other thing I wanted to know was how it played with a Mac and iLife. I wasn’t able to find that anywhere. I ended up ordering the camera from Amazon.com and it was here the next day. Long story short, the video I shot in regular day to day things wasn’t as impressive as what I saw online. I think you are sacrificing function for form. The videos I took in our home were quite grainy and my wife had a hard time holding that little camera still enough to really enjoy the HD product.
The videos do import to iLife 06. You just have to be sure to start your project with the 720 HD option. At that point, you drag and drop from the camera to the iMovie window. It imports at about real time.
I understand that this review isn’t really in depth. I guess I wasn’t really going for that. I just wanted to let other shoppers know that it does indeed work fine with iMovie. I ended up returning the camera for a full refund because the HD picture just wasn’t that great for everyday use. I think we’re just transitioning to real HD cameras for consumers, but we’re not quite there yet. I do think it would work ok if you were planning on having it on a tripod or standing totally stationary at a zoo or sporting event.
October 12th, 2006 at 10:31 am
“One of the cameras that had some promise was the Sony HD1A.”
– I think you ment Sanyo
January 10th, 2007 at 3:13 pm
No, the HD1A IS a Sanyo product. I also just ordered this model and got it in the other day. I read many reviews about this camera so I went into it with my eyes open.
First off, I was very pleased with the video. I had no aspirations that this would produce the end all video quality but it looks at least as good as my Sony mini DV camcorder. I may not use it to record my daughters wedding or something like that - time will tell.
The attractive thing about this camera is the practicality. When we go to the Carribean or a trade show I was always at a quandry. Do I lug both the digital camera and the camcorder on the catamran cruise/trade show floor or choose which one. With this model you have both in the palm of your hand.
The other thing is that there have been times when I’ve been recording on the camcorder and want to get a picture with the digital camera — an evening beach party in Jamaica with a guy doing a fire breathing show for example. So do I stop filming pick up the camera and risk missing part of the show? With the HD1A I can be recording video and snap as many stills as I want.
The other thing that I’ve been very pleased with is how quick it is to get video into my Mac. Just pop out the SD card and into my card reader and the files show up ready to copy or bring into iMovie. The clips show up as files so importing is non-linear, unlike importing with a tape based camcorder.
The last point is that there have been many times when I’ve left the camcorder back at the hotel choosing rather to grab my small digital camera. With the size of the HD1A I’m more inclined to grab it. I know there will be many times when the convenience of having it with me as opposed to not having any camcorder will be a plus.
All in all I’m very pleased with it.
April 11th, 2007 at 5:21 am
totally interesting point o’ views. I just got the camera an am very pleased so far. Scratching my head trying to figure how to make it funtion as web cam (an feature I hadn’t even considered, but is offered). The machine does recognise the USB, but iMovie doesn’t see it as ‘attached’. I’ll get there. I will try setting 720HD option.
and Glen Grafton, you might try the base for uploading. It works beautifully.
Chamo,
Mark