Cameras that record video

On Tue, 03 Aug 2004 00:45:38 GMT, "Jake Maxwell"
wrote:

What are some good options for 3/4/5 megapixel cameras in the under-$400
range that first and foremost take sharp pictures, but also have the
capablity to record VGA video (and preferrably for longer than 30 secs.)?

Anyone have any experience with these cameras? What do you think?

Thanks,
Jake




Canon Powershot S1 IS, currently $419 at buy.com

3 megapixel, but 10X optical zoom. VGA in 640X480 or 320X240, either
30 or 15 frames per second. Length of video is limited only by the
size of the compact flash card.

At best quality on my 512MB card, about four minutes...

dwight

"dwight" wrote:
Canon Powershot S1 IS, currently $419 at buy.com

3 megapixel, but 10X optical zoom. VGA in 640X480 or 320X240, either
30 or 15 frames per second. Length of video is limited only by the
size of the compact flash card.

At best quality on my 512MB card, about four minutes...

How is the photo quality of the pictures? Is the lens/processor pretty
good?

Jake

"dwight" wrote:
Canon Powershot S1 IS, currently $419 at buy.com

3 megapixel, but 10X optical zoom. VGA in 640X480 or 320X240, either
30 or 15 frames per second. Length of video is limited only by the
size of the compact flash card.

At best quality on my 512MB card, about four minutes...

How is the photo quality of the pictures? Is the lens/processor pretty
good?

Jake

On Tue, 03 Aug 2004 02:04:03 GMT, "Jake Maxwell"
wrote:

"dwight" wrote:
Canon Powershot S1 IS, currently $419 at buy.com

3 megapixel, but 10X optical zoom. VGA in 640X480 or 320X240, either
30 or 15 frames per second. Length of video is limited only by the
size of the compact flash card.

At best quality on my 512MB card, about four minutes...

How is the photo quality of the pictures? Is the lens/processor pretty
good?

Jake

If you're talking about a good digital camera that also happens to
take video, then it's fine. Video is smooth, audio is (shall we say)
fullsome. File sizes get real big real fast. Optical zoom can be used
during video recording, too. But...

I wouldn't buy this camera for the video.

As an experiment, I took a 1-minute movie of a babbling brook, looped
it about 26 times, and turned it into a DVD screen saver for my HDTV.
The 640X480 picture is not all that impressive on an HDTV, nor is it
all that on an LCD monitor at 1024X768. But the quality is good.

Basically, if something extraordinary happens around me, I have the
capability to record the events in video. But if video were my primary
concern, I'd be looking for a digital video camera that also happens
to take very good stills.

dwight

On Tue, 03 Aug 2004 02:04:03 GMT, "Jake Maxwell"
wrote:

"dwight" wrote:
Canon Powershot S1 IS, currently $419 at buy.com

3 megapixel, but 10X optical zoom. VGA in 640X480 or 320X240, either
30 or 15 frames per second. Length of video is limited only by the
size of the compact flash card.

At best quality on my 512MB card, about four minutes...

How is the photo quality of the pictures? Is the lens/processor pretty
good?

Jake

If you're talking about a good digital camera that also happens to
take video, then it's fine. Video is smooth, audio is (shall we say)
fullsome. File sizes get real big real fast. Optical zoom can be used
during video recording, too. But...

I wouldn't buy this camera for the video.

As an experiment, I took a 1-minute movie of a babbling brook, looped
it about 26 times, and turned it into a DVD screen saver for my HDTV.
The 640X480 picture is not all that impressive on an HDTV, nor is it
all that on an LCD monitor at 1024X768. But the quality is good.

Basically, if something extraordinary happens around me, I have the
capability to record the events in video. But if video were my primary
concern, I'd be looking for a digital video camera that also happens
to take very good stills.

dwight

re digital video recording with a digital camera.

I have a now obsolete Olympus C2100UZ, but I think it's basically the same
engine as the modern Olympus C7nn series.

In my camera, resolution when shooting movies is much lower than still
picture resolution. In so-called high quality mode, movie resolution is
only 320x240. Also, movies are shot at 12.5 frames per second. That's
about equivalent to the very early silent movie films in cinema technology.
I believe modern cine film runs at more than double that frame rate.

The end result is movies that are just about watchable in a 4x3 inch window
on a normal sized monitor - and even then the low frame rate is evident.
Blow them up to full screen size and they are pretty dire.

Another thing to check - not all camera brands can record sound with their
movies.

Maybe the more modern versions, or other brand cameras, can improve on the
abover figures but I doubt they do so by much. The bottom line is, if you
want high quality movies, buy a video camera. The movies from a still
digital camera are not much better than a curio.

That's my humble opinion.

Keith

I am very happy with my S1.
The photo quality is limited only by the photographer blush.
If you're willing to learn, there is much potential for the S1 in still
photography.
I'm happy with the video quality as well.
We took this camera with us on a family vacation in July. I was amazed at
the quality and flexibility this camera offered.
~Kimberlee

"Jake Maxwell" wrote in message link.net...
What are some good options for 3/4/5 megapixel cameras in the under-$400
range that first and foremost take sharp pictures, but also have the
capablity to record VGA video (and preferrably for longer than 30 secs.)?

Anyone have any experience with these cameras? What do you think?

Another to consider is the Sony DSC-P100 (5.1MP, $399 list).

It has three video modes, two are 640x480 x 30fps and the other
is of lower resolution (don't recall fps).

I've only used the 640x480 modes where I've "normal" compression
and "maximum quality" compression. In normal mode, it'll record
on our 1-Gb memory card pro (pro needed for the 30fps) card for about
45 minutes. In low-compression mode, it'll go for about 12 minutes.
It records in mpeg-1 format. Sound is mono, and video quality is good,
but it's not a replacement for a video camera.

A very nice P&S camera overall (and is available in blue, red, and silver
models). :-)

Mike