.mod files

[shmendrapolk]

I'm considering buying the Canon FS-200 flash memory camcorder (to be released next week, similar specs to last years Canon fs-100). The mpeg-2 files it produces have a .mod extension. I've been trying to research how universal these files are & I was able to find a sample to download.

So here's the issue:

-.mod files won't play on my Vista 64-bit machine in either Window's MP or VLC 9which seems to work for most everything).
-I can import them to Pinnacle 12 & they seem to render fine
-Adobe Premiere Elements squishes the 16:9 aspect ration to 4:3

People in various forums have suggested changing the extension to .mpg. I tried that. This is what happened:

-They can play with most media players & open up with Pinnacle and Adobe. However, the 16:9 aspect ratio is squished to 4:3.

Does anybody know what I can do so I will be able to play and edit them as I would with any standard mpg or avi files?
I don't mind doing batch conversions, so long as there isn't any degradation in quality.

Thanks!