[MS]

I am planning to buy a Canon dv camcorder, and I am wondering once I have captured some digital stills on my camcorder, how i get it into the imac so can make it a jpeg, or whatever so I might be able to put it on my website, email it, whatever.
I know I should be able to use the firewire connection, but what software?
Do I have to buy PhotoDV from Radius?
Thanks for your help.

[lehman]

I have a iMac that I use to capture stills in. All I use is iMovie. There is an option to capture a frame and save it in jpeg mode. It's really simple.

[deedar]

lehman -

How is the quality of your stills captured this way?

There are a lot of factors that influence just how good the images are (read that as I wish I had a progessive scan ccd like a Canon.) I know you asked lehman, but I have been more than happy with the images captured this way and have even used them for printed work (under the right conditions.) The images are great for web use. They could also probably be used for reference images if shot correctly.

MS, even though PhotoDV from radius is kind of cool, you don't need it if you have a DV iMac.

[lehman]

The quality is really good actually. The only problem is if the picture is in motion. If you export a jpeg in to Photoshop that was in motion in iMovie, (I mean you took a still from a moving object as opposed to a non-moving object from your footage) then you get streaky lines. The solution to this is when you record and your only intention is to get a still, most if not all, DV camcorders have a snapshot mode and or a mode which lets you record motion only it's a lot choppier (less frames per second).

I don't know if that explained anything at all but to make it simple let's just say that the quality is really good for a "consumer" piece of software.

You are right, the most common cause of the streaks that show up in stills are due to motion, the relative motion of the camera to the subject. The best quality images come from situations where the camera is held rock solid. It also helps to use an adequate shutter speed - if you have enough light, use the sports mode. Ultimately, for anything that moves quickly, the type of sensor you have will make a difference. Most dv camcorders use two interlaced fields to make one frame, that is it updates a field every 1/15 sec. So, if something is moving fast enough, there will be some amount of bluring. Other cameras use progressive scan ccd's and actually update full frames at 1/30 sec. Stills taken with this type of camera should be sharper and with less blur - several of the canons have this type of sensor along with optical image stabilization which also has many advantages to the electronic version. Even with all that, I am currently shooting with a Panasonic camcorder, go figure.

With my camera, I have not really been able to tell the difference between using photo mode or normal mode. The main advantage is that I get 7 seconds of the image and the tape gets a special marker so finding it is easier.

Ultimately, as we have said, the images are darn good. You do have to watch your settings to get the best possible image in any particular situation.

Happy Shooting