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getting videos onto my mac? frustrationnn

I've got a pentex optio S5Z that works great except for getting the video files from it onto my mac.

This is what I do because I dont know any better i guess..
I take some pictures and a video on my camera, play the video back on the camera, works fine, sound and video, then i connect my camera to my computer and import the pictures into iphoto (i prefer that to the software that came with camera) and then I open up the folder for the camera and click and drag the video file into my hardrive and try to open it. Since quicktime is my default, that opens up and I get a blank screen of the video that when i press play gives me the audio, and not the video and a message reading...
"some necessary quicktime software is missing"
SO....I go to the link it gives me and it sends me to the apple website looking at the quicktime components. There is a list of about 15 of these brands, including On2, Divx, and ipix. Anyways, ive tried most of them. I have installed about 10 of them, never being able to view the videos after the fact.

So Then..
I tried using the software the camera came with, "ACDSee for pentex," and that dosent work. The vido file will be sitting in the program along with the pictures which i can view, but when i click the video, I get a blank movie screen playing sound from the video. I looked on the application for a way to somehow import the video and wasent able to figure it out. I called pentex and they couldnt help me at all.

I also tried downloading the $20 Divx Player and converter because it said it would convert any file blah blah blah, so i figured maybe that was the problem, but same deal, no video...just sound. video files are .AVI when grab them onto my computer if that helps..

Does this sound familiar?crazy?common?fixable?anything?
please help me, as you can see i dont know what i am doing.
thankyou so much.

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Did you try VLC player? It's the best for .avi files, and it's free: www.videolan.org/vlc/download-macosx.html

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I have downloaded VLC player and it does work to play the files, however, I also need the ability to work with the files in say imovie or something to edit them. I have tried a converter, the one i have now is i believe called ffsmpegx or something. but that dosent work too great. the files usually end up playing patchy with somewhat scrambled video. i guess I am looking for the right codec, which i have yet to be able to find, and the correct instructions on how to use the codec once found.

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Have you learned any more about your issue yet? My son is having the exact same problem.

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well...good luck but all I have figured out is that if I just want to play them, I use the VCL player which i downloaded, and that will play any file. But if i want to edit them and use them, I have to convert them with some converter i downloaded. I never figured out the codec thing unfortunatly and I tried for a long time with no result but that so goodluck, and please let me know if you find out the codec.

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