handycam video to digital video (for editing)

[BostonMark1]

Hi,
I'm new to all of this stuff, so please pardon my lack of knowledge.

I have a Sony HDR-SR1 handycam. It records video and I am able to output the video in *.m2ts and *.modd formats [raw files]. Each video has a file in each of those formats. I was able to use the Sony software to convert the video to mpeg2 format, which is common. I ahd no problem playing this mpeg, but I then tried to open this mpeg2 in Adobe Premiere to edit the video. I got an error saying the file was either unsupported or corrupt. I read into this and it seems that Premiere doesn't like importing mpegs due to the way compression works. So, I've been trying to figure out another way to get video off of the Sony handcam and into Adobe Premiere so I can edit it. Do you have any suggestions? If i were to convert the mpeg2 to another format, so you think that would work? I find it bizarre that I can't do something as simple as editing video taken on the recorder.

Thanks in advance.

[JohnnyMalaria]

Which version of Premiere?

Pro 1.5 and later should handle MPEG2. (There's a free plug-in from Adobe for Pro 1.5).

[BostonMark1]

Premiere Pro 2.0