canon hf s21 import

What's the best and/or cheapest way to import footage from the Canon Legria hf s21 camera? Haven't imported via a flash card before. Can it be done directly from the camera? What cable would I need. Import is to 24" iMac with USB2 FW400/800. Thanks, Chris R

This thing has a USB out, so just hook up the camera as if it were a drive via the supplied USB cable. If your HF S21 is anything like my HF S10, it will be a bit erratic as to whether it mounts. The internal drive mounts more often than the flash card. Switch the camera to Dual Shot mode for higher likelihood of both components mounting.

The files are probably AVCHD -- .MTS files. Use FCP's Log and Transfer to import.


www.derekmok.com

To copy via USB cable, the camera must be powered with its power adapter, not with the battery. The camera will mount as "No Name" folder. A better way is to mount the SD card using a USB card reader to copy the AVCHD files. Then use FCP's Log and Transfer as derekmok indicated.

> Then use FCP's Log and Transfer as derekmok indicated.

Copy the files first and back them up to two other places first, of course! Yes, the camera needs to be plugged to wall power or it won't show up on your computer, even if the battery is fully powered. Truly dumb design, in my opinion. The fact is, these cameras are consumer, not pro.

Another case in point: The accompanying, inferior Canon software will always automatically launch. I always just quit them right away and copy the files by hand. Who needs "Canon Image Browser" when you got Photoshop?

Unfortunately, the card-reader option doesn't work all the way for me because I record video to the HF S10's internal drive and still images to the SD card, as a way to segregate the two functions. Does the HF S21 have an internal drive at all?


www.derekmok.com