Use of SLR for video

[Frances Kofod]

Hi Randy,
I helped someone download video files from a small Sony video camera  
with AVCHD files a couple of years ago using iMovie. I had to upgrade  
from iMovie'08 to iMovie'09 and it then worked.

Frances

On 29/05/2011, at 2:16 PM, Randy LaPolla wrote:

> Hello,
> Before my recent fieldwork in NW Thailand I bought a Sony SLT-A55V  
> (a very high end digital SLR), and its paired mic Sony ECM-CG50 (a  
> directional mic that mounts on top of the camera). I was told by the  
> salesman that it would film for 29 minutes and then you could start  
> again. It takes HD video of amazing quality. It worked fine in the  
> shop and in trials at home, but in the village in Thailand it failed  
> miserably, overheating after only 5-7 minutes (it was about 33 C in  
> the shade). The manual does say that in 40 C it will only last 5  
> minutes, and the 29 minutes is only in 20 C, but the salesman never  
> mentioned that, and I wasn’t aware of it until after I bought it. So  
> one point of this message is to warn anyone thinking of using an SLR  
> for video to think again. (Btw, in contrast a cheap Nikon Coolpix  
> camera that we had had no problem shooting 29 minute videos with  
> clear sound in that heat.)
>
> A second issue is the format Sony uses: I was warned about the  
> proprietary software and format that Sony uses, but assumed it  
> wouldn’t be a problem. Wrong again. The software they give you for  
> working with the videos does not work on a Mac, and the HD files  
> created seem to not be openable by any other software currently  
> available on my Mac other than VLC (which only is for viewing, not  
> editing). From a check of the Web it seems iMovie’08 (which I don’t  
> have) and certain other types of software might be able to play  
> them, or convert them, but there are problems with some of them.  
> Does anyone know what is the best software for working with .MTS  
> AVCHD files (ideally without converting them, if possible)? (There  
> is the choice to create MP4, but I want to keep the HD quality if  
> possible.)
>
> Thanks very much.
>
> Randy
>
> ---
> Randy J. LaPolla, PhD FAHA
> Professor (Chair) of Linguistics
> La Trobe University
> VIC 3086 AUSTRALIA
> Tel.: +61 3 9479-6402 (RCLT) / 9479-2555 (Ling)
> FAX:  +61 3 9467-3053 (RCLT) / 9479-1520 (Ling)
>
> RCLT: http://www.latrobe.edu.au/rclt/
> Linguistics: http://www.latrobe.edu.au/linguistics/
> The Tibeto-Burman Domain: http://tibeto-burman.net/
> Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area: http://stedt.berkeley.edu/ltba/

Frances Kofod
PO Box 1918
Kununurra
WA 6743
08 91692 852 ~ 0438 894957



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