I was just wondering about what is the oldest version of fcp i would have to have to edit the 7D footage?

Thanks,
Matt

Any version that supports ProRes and Full HD quality. You can convert the H264 files in MpegStreamClip or Quicktime Player to ProRes.

what format is the 7d outputting?

Its outputting .mov in h.264. You could "edit" the footage with just simple cuts, but once you start trying to color grade it, it comes to a screeching halt. Most, if not all, 7D/5D shooters and editors convert to a different format like prores or prores LT before editing.

do you know if fcp 5 will handle it?

It's not clear what you mean by handling it, but I couldn't watch any native 5D clips on fcp 6. I had to transcode them first. FCP7 on the other hand, I can watch native clips without much problem on the timeline, making it easy to rough cut footage.

So to answer your question, I would assume that FCP 5 would behave much like FCP 6. If FCP 5 has prores, transcode to that before editing.

Final Cut 5 was in the transition in HDV and their universal apps. You had to pay $49 to get 5.1 (I think that's the version) to be able to work with more HDV codecs. You need Final Cut 6 to work with ProRes, otherwise you can transcode to the Apple Intermediate Codec.

You can use FCP 5.1.4 to edit 7D material, I did this for a while. Your best option if using this version of FCP is to download mpeg streamclip and convert your footage to the relevant xdcam format then your ready to edit. You will find editing H.264 very painful, especially if your using an older Power PC Mac.

If you have the choice though, I would go for FCP 6, as prores is a better codec.

Hope that helps

I recently edited 7D footage on my macbook with Final Cut Express. You can edit it, it just takes really long to render, with me 4-5 minutes as opposed to a minute or so with .mov files.