Hard for me to name a single program as a favorite because different programs have different strengths and weaknesses.
Overall my go to software for editing was always AVID, as far back as the early 1990's.
But that's because back then most of my work was either feature, docu, national ad spots, MTV and television programming and AVID fit the bill.
Now, with more internet based work, I find that I prefer Sony Vegas Pro for quick and dirty projects, although now MAGIX has purchased the licensing and it's called MAGIX, but I still have Vegas Pro 12 and still use it quite often.
But I also love DaVinci Resolve, even though at my advanced age I'm not spending the big bucks for the high end control interface hardware that goes with it.
I sometimes switch back and forth between Vegas Pro and Resolve on the same projects.
I have Premiere Pro and I've used it but I got off the bandwagon after CS5 because I don't want their subscription based (CS6) software, so if a client has it (CS6 subscription) and they want me to use it, I'll do that but I won't own it.
I don't use Final Cut to any great extent. I know it and know how but I get everything I want from AVID that Final Cut can do, and I feel AVID does it better. I was never ever impressed by Final Cut 7 and its ancient 32 bit kernel. I never understood why anyone was.
Final Cut X is finally supposed to be damn good but again, it's a lot like Vegas Pro and I already have that. But at least FCP X finally went 64 bit like everyone else did.
As a guy who first trained on old flatbed film editing equipment (Kem, Steenbeck) and later on linear videotape, I've seen and used almost everything. I even had to learn EditDroid and LaserEdit in one day to complete a project for Lorimar.
I also own a copy of Lightworks but I confess that the learning curve is daunting for me. I need to sit down with a Lightworks guru to walk me through it. Lightworks is perhaps one of the eight hundred pound gorillas,
if their list of clients and projects is any indication.
The biggest notable about it is that it's available for Win, Mac and Linux...I cannot think of any other edit proggie that can make that claim, and the free version is pretty amazing. But like Da Vinci, if you pony up the thousands for the hardware, it's even more amazing.
Now that I am semi-retired (eyesight issues) I wonder if it's worth me 0bothering to learn Lightworks, but I recommend that anyone getting into the business learn the following:
AVID, FCP X, Premiere Pro and Lightworks.
Learn them all and get good with them all.
And get good with Photoshop and GIMP both, and learn Maya and at least one other piece of image compositing SFX software, too.
I may just go ahead and pay an expert to walk me through Lightworks for a week anyway just because it's good brain food anyway, even if I don't get hired to work with it ever. Thirty-five years in the industry, much of it with AVID and I am comfortable with that.
I just like the idea of making Lightworks "my bitch" because I want to say I can.
If you're a beginner, use iMovie for Mac or get Vegas Movie Studio for Win, you can't go wrong and they're both super cheap but super powerful.
An iPhone is a phone that can shoot great video but it is still NOT a "video camera" anymore than a DSLR is a video camera.
A video camera is a video camera.
My FAVORITE video camera? An ARRI Alexa. I've used them at least two dozen times but I rented them.
A complete Alexa with good glass runs well into the hundred thousand dollar range or higher, too rich for my blood at age 62.
But they're super tasty...sigh.
For a beginner? Best entry level HD video camera?
Canon VIXIA HF R800
It's two hundred bucks ($200-250) but you can shoot news, reality TV, papparazzi and even corporate or event video with it.
No, it's not professional grade but you'll see pros faking it with one in a pinch all the time, like when they need to shoot an easy setup car interior shot, for instance.
Double your money and go with a
Panasonic H-CV770, get a load of the features on this one. It even allows you to use an external mic (or a wireless audio receiver) for pro audio.
Or go 4K all the way with the
PANASONIC HC-WXF991K for about 800 bucks.
Hope that helps!