Cameras & Camcorders

[kcollman]

I am researching a camcorder for my school. One thing I have run into is that some camcorders only record in MP4 file type, which is not compatable with Windows Movie Maker (this is the software that all faculty have). Also, we are a Career and Technical Center - so we have a wide range of settings - outside and inside - good light and bad. Our price range is around $500.00. Can someone explain the different file types and which file type is the best and most versitile?

[Entropy]

Most standard definition recorders record MPEG-2.  Not sure what is WMM-compatible.  WMM is VERY limited software.

Good high definition camcorders record AVCHD.  To my knowledge, WMM does not support AVCHD.  You need better software to support AVCHD.

[TheLexMachine]

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kcollman wrote:

I am researching a camcorder for my school. One thing I have run into is that some camcorders only record in MP4 file type, which is not compatable with Windows Movie Maker (this is the software that all faculty have). Also, we are a Career and Technical Center - so we have a wide range of settings - outside and inside - good light and bad. Our price range is around $500.00. Can someone explain the different file types and which file type is the best and most versitile?

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Do you have any Vista or Windows 7 computers there? If so, you can get the latest version of Windows Movie Maker for free from the Live Essentials Download package which supports the formats used by the low-end camcorders in your price range. Otherwise, you will have to use a media package such as Nero or some other such thing which allows you to edit and create a variety of media files.