I have just purchased a SDR-H200 which comes with panasonic's
imagemixer 3 software. When editing, the sliders are very jerky.
I cannot move them along smoothly. Is this the norm?
Is there a better software on the market?

Also, I decided on this camera because of the leica dicomar lens.
However, when I unpacked it, it was a 'panasonic' lens.
I understand they are made under licence but are they as good as
the leica lens?
ratae33

That ImageMixer software is intended as a basic starter to movie editing. I downloaded it from ImageMixer.net on a trial basis. Once you understand the interface its fine but I would recommend using something more intuitive such as Adobe Encore DVD. It makes movie editing much more enjoyable and gives far superior results.

Right now ImageMixer is on my bad side because first, it wouldn't recognize the mpeg file I just took from the camera and put on the desktop unless I changed it took look at All Files...then after I put it in the ImageMixer library, it won't let me edit it because it again doesn't recognize it as an mpeg file.

Is there any FREE video editing software? My poor college self can't afford to pay 150 bucks for good stuff...

Admittedly, this is an old thread that has been resurrected, so hopefully, OP has resolved his/her issue.

BUT...as someone else posted, IME, the "free" software that comes with computers, hard drives, scanners, printers, cameras, camcorders is sub-par or a "lite" (Translate: crippled) version of better software. It's actually probably good, since it allows people to initially get started, but then choose their payware software of choice after they become more familiar with the process.

Windows Movie Maker software is free, but I cannot speak to it's quality, ease of use, etc, since I've never used it.

I've pretty much used Sony Vegas since getting my first camcorder five years ago and love it.

Sony Vegas is now on my list of top editing software for home use. I tried it on a friends computer last week and liked how easy it was to use but still being able to produce quite advanced end results. I purchased a copy this week and am absolutely loving it.