Can anyone recommend an HD video camera that works well the Mac's imovie program?

I purchased panasonic HDC - TM55 last week just before going on a trip to charleston and smoky mountains. This camcorder has so many features packed in a tiny attractive body. The main attractions 1) 25x optical zoom - this was very useful while taking photos as well as during video capture.

There are not too many cameras which provide 25x useful optical zoomin such a small body. Photography and video capture at 25 x optical ( 35x intelligent zoom ) is a real big bonus. I found this to be very useful especially while on the boat in the sea and was able to capture snaps of seagulls very well.

2) Better shake reduction mechanism. Camera adjusts to most of the shakes. It even displays a message camera panning too fast.

3) Xenon flash and LED video light - Xenon flash is pretty useful for night photography. Video light doubles up as an AF lamp during photography as well as the light for night video capture. Light is good but it seems to be a bit weaker than the single LED flash of my blackberry bold.

For a price range of around 500$ this is a nice feature to have. Another good thing is video light turns on automatically if the surroundings are dark. But videos whll have a bluish white tinge.

Its better to be used as a flashlight if battery has enough juice left in it :). 3) Responsive touch screen - pretty good touch screen. Not any iphone like but still very good.

4) Well laid out menu - Lots of options in the menu. Capability to play video alone, photo alone, both together ( thats a nice feature I think ). 5) Nice 2.7 LCD screen - > good bright sunlight visibilty.

Rotating screen for self portrait or video capture. Screen buttons provide nice image/video tweaking opoortunities. 6) Quick Zoom in/out.

7) Fits perfectly in hand. The holding strap is also good. Battery provides nice support.

8) Support for high capacity memory cards. Cards will make camcorders even lighter. My sony vaio laptop has an SD card reader.

So its very easy to plug the card in and see all videos/photos. 9)Relatively wide angle lens when compared to sub 500$ camcorders. 10) Nice bundled software for editing 1080i videos.

Cons 1) power switch, memory card slot and AV/HDMI ports can be accessed only if LCD screen is open. Sure the camera will power on opening the LCD ( but not first time after immediate purchase ). To output to the TV, LCD would have to remain open.

2) Camera's automatic white balance seems to be a bit insufficient. Most of the time I had to manually set the white balance for a more natural appeal for the photos/videos. 3) Its good that there is a manual mode.

But relying on touch screen to change the values is a bit dificult. Had there been some ring around the lens to adjust, it would have been good. 4) unlike panasonic Lumix ZS7 which gives an excellent portable charger, this camcorder requires battery to remain seated on the camcorder for charging to take place.

Its Ok but a separate charger would have added to the excellent portability. The above mentioned cons are not really deal breakers when we consider the fact that this product costs around 420$ with a bag full of usable positive features which any family/person might be looking for. Compact body, ease of operation, excellent quality of videos/photos ( if we can manually adjust white balance ) is good enough to look over the negatives.

All in all this is a great product for a great price.

I think you should go with Sony HDR-CX110 High Definition Handycam Camcorder 1920x1080 Full HD Recording w/3MP still image Memory Stick PRO Duo media slot 1/4" back-illuminated "Exmor R" CMOS sensor 1080/60p playback via HDMI and compatible HDTV.

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