Hey Gang
I did not want to Hijack chudalicious' thread about the Go Pro but think you guys could help.

Santa's bringing a Kodak Playsport video camera On sale now on Amazon bundled with accessories for $139.

The issue I read about is that it save movies in MOV format which is large and not compatible with most Windows based editors.

Assuming I outgrow the windows-friendly but very basic editor that comes with it, what tool is best for converting from MOV. I hear that it is straightforward for 720p @ 30fps but I will likely be filming at 720p 60fps, where videos are smoother when the camera is in motion. Some have said that converting those without hosing the quality is tough.

Thanks all

Here

There are a bunch of converters for this.

YouTube tutorials

Hi Angus. I use this: Cucusoft Ultimate Converter. I use it to convert my .mp4 files to mpeg2 (so my crappy editor can use them) Just tried it on a .mov file (HD from an iPod Touch) and it was fine. Versatile, handles a shirt load of formats, simple and pretty cheap. I seem to remember downloading a free trial before I bought it.

Thanks John, Todd. Pretty funny link, Todd. I figured it was an easy Google but some of the reviewers on Amazon about the camera seemed to indicate that the 60 fps conversion was tough without bashing the quality, and you guys are ahead of me on vids.

Thanks for the recommendation John; I'll look at it.

Avidemux gets my vote. Moderately easy to use and a good selection of filters too eg. resize, rotate &c.

Cyberlink power director 8. Pretty slick, dvd authoring with menus, supports & exports tons of file formats, and close enough to windows movie maker to make the transition pretty easy. Not entirely sure about the fps part though- my cameras only shoot 30fps in 1080p which is what I usually shoot, but I can have a go with some 720p 60fps and report back. Oh nice image cleanup tools on this too.

Tried a short vid at 720p 60 fps in .mov. Imported then exported as a couple of file types. I usually export as avi or h.264 avc or just burn straight to dvd. Quality is really good, but it did seem to loose some if I exported back to .mov. I don't really ever do that so that doesn't bug me. It seems for PC playback the biggest thing you can do for good playback quality is a good video card and monitor.

Thanks for the test, Heliboy