How do you transfer Panasonic sdr-h40 camcorder to Sony vegas?

Need suggestions for buying a camcorder?

• The purpose of our camcorder is for recording a conference done yearly which would last around 22 hours in three days. There might be other training sessions totaling around 15hours at other times which our office also might want to be recorded. I am just trying to estimate how much would be the cost of camcorder, media(mini DV tapes/SD card/hard disk), tripod and how easy it would be transfer them to a computer(running Windows) for editing. The recording does not have to very high end, but reasonably good so that the videos can be edited later on. 1. Should I look into camcorders which miniDV tapes or media(other than flash or hard disk) or is a camcorder using Flash/hard disk is fine? 2. What quality setting would you recommend for a conference/speaker presentation for a flash based camcorder? For that, a 16GB card can record how much? 3. For SD card, is a particular brand more reputed which we should get? 4. Would the extra cost of HDD camcorders balance the price of buying two 16GB SD cards(around 70) which will need to be swapped? 5. Is an external microphone necessary for recording? Also, how do you get a line from the sound system into the camcorder? 6. How much would a tripod(a cheap one) cost and what is a good brand for them which would give acceptable results? 7. Would we need lights also in case the room is a bit dark or can we skip it? If lights are needed, what would be a cheap brand which gives us acceptable results and how much would it cost? 8. You get the lowest price from a vendor's site like Canon, Sony or a retailer like Walmart, Amazon, tigerdirect, newegg or bestbuy? 9. Should I prefer Sony, Canon, Panasonic for camcorder or is there another brand I should look into? Any advice would be welcome.

• Answer:

  1. Flash camcorders are fine. Sometimes the file format they write to can be an issue though.They can also get expensive if you need to record a lot . A hard drive driven camcorder would give you 6 t012 hours of record time (depending on the settings). Mini DV is usually 90 minutes . Mini DV would probably be the most cost effective if you do not want to constantly download the constants of your camcorder. 2. It should always be set at the Highest level IMHO. For 720p, that would be about 20 min. It will depend. Also please check the speed of the card as well. Faster cards work better.I would only use a class 6 card or better. 3. The brands are about the same. The class is more important. 4.I would think the extra price would make it much more convenient, so it would be worth it to me. 5. You don't have to use an external mic, but the quality is better. most mid level camcorders have a mic jack built into them, so attaching a mic is fairly simple. 6. You can get a cheap Tripod for $50.Bogen is an okay company. 7.Lighting can depend, but the costs can be high. I know a lot of the Sony camcorders are good under low light conditions. Its hard to say without knowing more about the situation. 8. Use Google shopping and you will find the lowest legitimate price. If you do not recognize the site or can not find any reviews, do not use. 9. Those are the best, stay with them. In general it is better to spend the money for something of quality rather than try to save a few bucks on something you are not sure of. You may also want to consider renting a camera from a camera rental house. You can probably get a better quality camera for much cheaper if ou only need it for a few days.