I have been assigned to find an appropriate HD camera for a high school multimedia class in the range of $1000. Since the camera will be shared among students, having a camera with a large storage capacity is always an advantage. For this reason, I think that a camera with an integrated hard drive would be appropriate. I looked at many cameras and narrowed it down to two models-the JVC GZ-HD5 and the Sony HDR-SR11. They both were released recently, have 60gb hard drives, are expandable through microSD/memstick, and have a similar enough featureset. Both companies report that these cameras are OS X compatible, but I have not seen any user opinions on these cameras yet (not surprising, considering they were just released).

The main selling point I am looking for is flawless OS X compatibility. I want to plug this camera right into an Intel Mac and import straight to iMovie/Final Cut-no converting/hoops to jump through. Anyone want to recommend one model over the other? Or perhaps a different camera altogether?

that must be new from sony because none of their previous camcorders or Mac compatible. of the two i'd say go with the sony. jvc are terrible in low light and i like a cmos better than 3 chip ccd.

that must be new from sony because none of their previous camcorders or Mac compatible. of the two i'd say go with the sony. jvc are terrible in low light and i like a cmos better than 3 chip ccd.

I've read testimonials online that the Sony works with Macs, even one here on AVSforum in the SR12 thread. I don't think Sony "officially" states Mac compatibility, but the SR11 is available for preorder from stores such as MacMall, which seem to suggest that it is definitely Mac compatible.

Thanks for the recommendation-I was already leaning towards the Sony. Anyone else care to share an opinion?

Sony SR-11 is my vote (I just ordered one too!)

I'm a mac user.... and i want to buy that sony too...

I checked with iMovie08 and finalcut, i think if you have one of those software and an Intel processor, you'll be fine since they accept the AVCHD format.

But let me know if you try and your comments... since i'll buy that sony one too :-) and if it's a nightmare with Mac, i won't then:-)

I just got my SR11 Saturday. It works flawlessly with iMovie 08, however it does require conversion, though iMovie handles it for you. You just open iMovie 08, plug the camera in, hit the button so it connects to the computer, and iMovie brings up a screen showing all the movies that are stored on the camera. You select which ones you want to import, and let iMovie do its thing.