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by Brian Fisher • Jun 18,2019 • Proven solutions

Yes, it is possible for Mac users to connect their camcorder to Mac. Connecting your camcorder to Mac for importing Video from Camcorder to Mac or photos to Mac might be a piece of cake if your camcorder is compatible with Mac. I mean, as long as your Mac can recognize your camcorder, you can do that easily. That’s to say, you can directly connect your camcorder to iPhoto, iMovie and more for transferring the camcorder file to iMovie and more for further use.

Part 1: How to Connect Camcorder to Mac

To download drivers, firmware updates, BIOS, and software, please select your model in the list below, or type the model name in the search box. End of support notification for products using the Windows 7 operating system. Oct 20, 2018  Tutorial on how to set up your camera, system and softwares for successful live streaming of a video. Follow the on-screen instructions on your Mac and begin the video transfer from your video camcorder to your Mac. Now I believe you can transfer video from you camcorder easily to both your PC and Mac. But if would like to edit and convert camcorder videos to DVD for better saving, please keep reading: What you need is a DVD burner.

To check whether your cam is compatible with Mac or not, you can read the documentation that came with your cam to see the requirement of the camcorder – some manufacturers required you to install software to access to the cam on your computer. Practically speaking, many camcorders from Cannon, Samsung, Sony, Panasonic and JVC have been included in the Apple’s list. For these camcorders, you can follow simple steps to have them connected to your Mac:

1. Power off your camcorder and plug the camcorder into your Mac via a proper FireWire cable;
2. Turn on your cam, and after a few seconds, iMovie will be opened automatically;
3. Follow the on-screen instruction on the Mac and transfer the cam video to iMovie. If you want to transfer photos from camcorder, open iPhoto instead.

Part 2: How to Fix 'Fail to Connect Camcorder to Mac' Issue?

If your camcorder is incompatible with Mac and you fail to connect it to Mac via FireWire cable, you can do it alternatively. You can directly insert the camcorder SD card to the SD card slot on Mac. The SD card will appear on your desktop as a hard drive icon. Double click the icon to open it and you can videos/photos from your camcorder to Mac.

However, there is one thing you have to acknowledge: camcorder videos are saved in AVCHD (MTS/M2TS) or DV which are not compatible with Mac. Take AVCHD for example, if your cam video is not in standard AVCHD (MTS/M2TS) format, you may have to convert your camcorder video to compatible formats for iMovie or Final Cut Pro. You are unable to play the camcorder video on QuickTime, neither can you organize them in iTunes or transfer them to other Apple devices unless you change the camcorder AVCHD to Apple supported formats first. Here, we recommend to you this powerful UniConverter for Mac. You can convert your camcorder videos to Mac supported format so that you can enjoy them on your Mac.

UniConverter - Video Converter

Key Features of UniConverter:

• Compatible with 150+ video/audio formats – UniConverter can convert more than 150 formats of standard and high definition video. It also converts several audio formats.
• Fast conversion speeds – this tool will convert video and audio at speeds of up to 90X.
• Inbuilt video editor – you have an inbuilt editor which you can use to sharpen your video, add watermarks, text, etc.
• Lossless video conversion – you do not lose any quality, even if the conversion happens at high speeds.
• Download video – you can download video from several sites on the Internet. Use these for your projects before conversion.
• Compatible with macOS 10.15 Catalina, 10.14 Mojave, 10.13 High Sierra, 10.12 Sierra, 10.11 El Capitan, 10.10 Yosemite, 10.9 Mavericks, 10.8 Mountain Lion and 10.7 Lion.

Step-by-step Guide to Convert Camcorder Videos to Mac Compatible Formats with iSkysoft

Step 1. Import Camcorder Videos

First of all, you need to import your camcorder videos to this program. You can do it by dragging and dropping them directly to the app. Or you can go to the main menu then choose 'Add Files' to do this.

Step 2. Set Output Format

Select an output format for your video from the format tray. Here you are highly recommended to choose 'MOV' which is a format supported by QuickTime and iMovie on Mac.

Step 3. Convert

Press 'Convert', and the UniConverter will do its job.

by Brian Fisher Dec 03,2019 Proven solutions

Do you like shooting video? If so, you probably have a camcorder. It's a must-have to record video. As you know that camcorder supports limited video formats, such as DV, MPEG-2, AVCHD, etc. Want to play, edit or import camcorder videos on Mac ? Well, I'm afraid you need to convert your camcorder videos to Mac compatible formats like M4V or MOV first. Then you will be able to play camcorder videos with QuickTime or edit them in iMovie without any restriction. Don't worry! This article will show you how to import and convert camcorder video on Mac, step by step.

Part 1. Import Camcorder Videos to Mac by Converting for Playback

If you failed to import your camcorder video for playing or editing on Mac, ensure it's supported by your video player or editor software. If not, convert camcorder video to Mac supported format with a camcorder video converter. Now with UniConverter, you can easily convert camcorder video to Mac compatible formats within 3 steps.

How to Convert Camcorder Video to Mac for Playing or Editing with iSkysoft

It only needs 3 simple steps to import and convert video from camcorder to Mac, no matter what macOS version running on your Mac. You will need to: connect camcorder - choose an output format - convert.

Let's dive into the detail below:

To start with, connect your camcorder to the Mac. Click the drop down icon and then select Import from Camcorder option, without extra process to transfer from your Canon/Sony/Panasonic/JVC or other camcorders to your Mac. Alternatively, if you have already have the camcorder video available on your Mac, you can easily add it by dragging and dropping.

You will need to convert the camcorder video to Mac friendly format for further use. So after loading your camcorder video files, please check the format list on the right side and then go the Video or Editing option, and then MOV or iMovie as output format as needed.

Click Convert All button at bottom right and sit back. The conversion will complete in seconds. Now you can freely play your camcorder videos on Mac or edit them using iMovie. By the way, UniConverter can play camcorder videos whenever you want. And it is also equipped with a built-in video editor, which enables you to trim, crop and rotate video, or add subtitles/watermarks/special effects to your video. Just have a try.

Part 2: How to Import Camcorder Videos for Editing in iMovie

Step 1: Connect your camcorder to Mac machine with cable (1394/FireWire/USB/Wifi).

Step 2: Switch to PC/Computer mode depending on your Camcorder model.

Step 3: iMovie will automatically open the Import window. Or you can open it by File > Import. If DVD Player opens, quit it.

Step 4: Choose the video or select 'Import All'(make sure your camcorder's switch is set to 'Automatic').

Step 5: If 'Manual' is set, you can import some clip to iMovie.

Step 6: If you import from video from tape camcorder (DV/HDV), iMovie will automatically revise tape and import all videos.

Step 7: iMovie will automatically create video thumbnails after imported.

Part 3. More Useful Tips for Importing or Transferring Video to Mac

Tip 1. iMovie automatically detects your camcorder

iMovie will detect whether a camcorder is connected. When you have your camcorder connected with a cable, but is prompted 'No Camera Attached', ensure your camera is powered on and re-connect your camcorder to your computer properly via a FireWire or USB cable. Also make sure your camcorder is set to VCR, VTR, or Play mode. Also click the Connection Help button for more suggestions.

Tip 2. iMovie supports different video formats

iMovie only compatible with limited video formats. For importing video from your camcorder, choose between DV, DV Widescreen, HDV 1080i, and HDV 720i. If you will add MPEG-4 files from your PDA or phone, select MPEG-4.

Tip 3. Import video as one clip (iMovie HD, iMovie '09)

Rather than importing your video as separate clips, you can set iMovie to import your MTS video as a single clip. This may be very useful if you're importing a movie that you've already edited and you just want to make a minor change. Do this: from the iMovie menu, choose Preferences, click Import, and then deselect the 'Start a new clip at each scene break' option.

Tip 4. Make an HD video with iMovie

HD camcorders store more pixels than a standard camcorder, letting you record high quality video footage. iMovie supports importing and editing video from HD camcorders (HDV 1080i or 720p). But you decide whether to import HD camcorder video, or just large video. To make this settings, go to iMovie > Preferences > Video.

Tip 5. Import video to Mac before importing to iMovie

Many digital still cameras, PDAs, and mobile phones let you record videos in the MPEG-4 format, a standard compression that is used to significantly reduce the file size of video. While iMovie doesn't know how to import video from these devices directly. Therefore, you can copy them to your Mac first and then drag them into the iMovie Clips pane from Finder or import them using Import from the 'File' menu.

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Tip 6. Using video from your connected or built-in iSight camera

It's a good idea to use your iSight camera to record video directly into your iMovie project. To doso, connect your iSight camera to the FireWire port of your Mac and click the Record button to start recording. If you have more than one camcorder connected, such as an iSight and a camcorder, or an built-in iSight with iMac, you need choose iSight from the pop-up menu that appears when you switch to camera mode.

Tip 7. Monitor free disk space remaining on your Mac (iMovie HD, iMovie '09)

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Digital video clips may consume a large amount of hard disk space. Generally, 5 minutes of DV footage uses approximately 1GB of space. The same amount of HD video can occupy between 2GB to 4GB, depending on codec and resolution. To save hard disk space, import and edit your video in segments instead of editing all at one go. Through the monitor located in the lower-right corner of the iMovie window, you're able to see how much space remaining on your Mac's hard drive.