[Leica] Re: Home movies

[lrzeitlin at optonline.net (Lawrence Zeitlin)]

On Jul 24, 2007, at 5:48 PM, Frank wrote:

>>> Here is what I want: small, i want to be able to make DVDs with my
>>> computer using video captured with this camera and I want it to
>>> look decent. Oh yeah, I don't want it to cost an arm and leg as
>>> I'm about to have two more arms and two more legs to take care
>>> of. ;-)


Frank,

I've been inflicting home movies on my family and friends for years.  
My job took me to a lot of exotic places and I always went with  
camcorder at the ready. I've standardized on a Canon mini digital. It  
produces good TV quality video. I download right into a Mac computer  
running iMovie. The software separates the scenes. I can edit right  
on the computer, shift the order of scenes, add titles, transitions  
and special effects, and dub extra dialog or music. When I am  
satisfied with the result, I can burn the movie directly to a DVD  
using the Mac iDVD program. Any Mac computer made in the last five  
years can run the iLife program containing iMovie and iDVD. My TV  
producer daughter tells me my system is a slower functional  
equivalent of the $10,000+ Avid system her station uses. If you are  
serious about video filming, buy a used Mac and dedicate it to video.  
Now that Apple has switched to Intel chips, the price of the older  
computers using G4 chips has plummeted. You can probably pick up one  
for a few hundred dollars. If you don't get a copy of the iLife  
software with it, a new copy costs about $50. Much, much cheaper than  
a Leica lens.

If you have an older analog video camcorder you can digitize the  
video by feeding it into a modern digital camcorder using the pass  
through digitizing mode. I've done about 100 hours of tape this way.

An even simpler alternative way of making video DVDs it to buy a DVD  
recorder. The price of adequate recorders has dropped below $150 at  
discount stores like Costco and Walmart. Feed your camcorder video  
right into the recorder and burn a DVD disc directly. The process is  
very cheap and quick but you can't easily edit your input. DVD discs  
cost only about 25 cents each when purchased in bulk at Staples or  
Office Max. Even cheaper during frequent sales.

You can really annoy your friends and relatives by sending them  
endless hours of Junior learning to eat solid food. Trust me on this.

Larry Z