[drissa]

Hi

Any idea how the little Mustek MPEG-4 camcorder would interface with iTunes or FCE?

http://www.mustek.com/html/prod_camra/dv4000.html

I know it wouldn't allow direct import like Firewire cameras, but I'm guessing iTunes/FCE can import the kind of files it would download to your machine?

Pretty snazzy little things, huh?

[bmhome1]

Mustek changed the codec they use for that camera, and the MPEG4 .ASF files won't even open on a Mac, regardless of the player attempted (VLC, MPlayer or WMP). They also have answered inquires about the problem with total indifference.

Far, far better choice would be the Panasonic AV100, a $1,000 retail MPEG2 (DVD quality) SD camcorder that Macs can play in QT by renaming the file to .MPG and buying the QT codec add-on. The best part is the AV100 is on sale, new with 512MB SD card, for $468 shipped right now from tweeter.com.

Many of the current and forthcoming MPEG4 camcorders will be using .ASF format, which at best MAY play on a Mac at all, and WILL need to be converted to .AVI (not an easy task, requiring complex software such as ffmegX) to be edited further. And like the Mustek, some variations of .ASF are totally Mac-hostile.

[drissa]

Thanks for the heads-up. I didn't realise you couldn't even get files onto the machine.

The Mustek is going for about £90 over here, which made it so attractive. However, maybe I'll wait a bit, as I'm sure tons of these things will land soon (and I guess the price will come down too).

Thanks