Is there a digital video camera compatible with a OS 9.2 iMac?

Question

i recently got a grape imac OS 9.2. Are there any quality video cameras that will work with the OS 9.2 imovie?

( low price if possilbe ) Thanks

Answer 1

I'm sorry to tell you, but I couldn't find one that works with OS 9.2 That is soooo out dated that there is almost no support for any products on it any more... sorry.

Answer 2

If that Grape iMac has a working firewire 400 (IEEE1394a) port, any MiniDV tape based camcorder should work - [presuming you are importing standard definition video. High definition video will not be usable by that version of iMovie and you cannot upgrade to the current version of iMovie without a more current CPU.

http://support.apple.com/specs/imac/iMac...

Earlier models did not have firewire ports.

You will also need a 4-pin to 6-pin firewire cable to connect the DV port on the camcorder to the firewire port on your Mac. iMovie should be able to import the standard definition video from the miniDV tape (when the camcorder is in Play/Edit mode). USB will not work for importing this digital video.

Lowest price... Canon ZR800. The firewire cables are less thatn US$10.

Heads up: Standard definition video (DV stored on the miniDV tape) will use around 13-14 gig of hard drive space - and the older OS9 Macs typically did not have this sort of internal hard drive space. You will need an external drive (firewire-connected preferred, but USB will work, too).

Please understand that you are going down the path of trying to get an 8 year-old machine to do a very high-level of number crunching by going down this path. Normally a lot of RAM (2 gig minimum is suggested), a ton of hard drive space and a really fast CPU is required. My 5 year old G4 tower can handle standard def video editing, but I would not suggest this as an optimal way to go. If your Grape iMac uses a G3 PowerPC processor, this activity will be pushing its limits.