Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I teach video production. We purchased 5 of these cameras for beginner students due to the wealth of features - especially the audio features, and the low price point. My only complaint so far is that the battery style has changed. I have a wealth of canon camcorder batteries and chargers from earlier and recent models, and this one uses a new "shape" battery. Bummer for me. The audio features are wonderful. External mic support. Headphone plug. Manual input control. Great stuff! The camera also supports a variety of formats, bit rates and frame rates. We use iMovie and FCPX in our program. The camera is compatible with both, however there is a fix you'll need to be aware of when importing to iMovie (see below). I've read some reviews that claim iMovie will not support AVCHD from this camera. This is untrue. It supports both AVCHD and MP4 directly from the camera. You just need to understand how to find the "switch" when importing (see notes below). My advice is to pick one and stick with it. I prefer MP4 at 24Mbps at 24fps (this matches well with other cameras that I use). I use a variety of cameras in my profession, and I am very pleased with this model. I highly recommend it for both casual use and entry level film making. Decent video quality. Excellent audio quality. It really is amazing what you can get for $250. IMPORTING to iMOVIE or FCPX notes: Both AVCHD and MP4 formats work in iMovie and FCPX. 60P in full HD (60 full frames per second in 1080p) will NOT work in iMovie (from this camera or any other). You'll have no problems importing any format (including 60 fps) into FCPX. To import files into iMovie do the following: 1. Turn camera to play. 2. At the top of the screen it will show whether you are looking at AVCHD or MP4 files. Touch that little box. You can now switch between AVCHD or MP4. 3. Switch it to AVCHD 4. Press "OK" 5. Attach USB plug to camera and computer. 6. The camera screen should be filled with warnings about not detaching power, blah blah blah. If you don't see the warnings, it will not connect to the computer. 7. A "Canon" drive icon should appear on your Mac desktop 8. open iMovie. 9. Import -> from camera 10. At the bottom of the import window, you'll see a drop down menu that allows you to switch between AVCHD or MP4. You can now access all of the files (AVCHD or MP4) on the camera. Full HD @ 60p will appear, but you will not be able to import (they've got a red circle/slash "no" sign across them). Good luck!