640x480 30FPS Movie Mode Camera??

Sabinthe typed:

 > Does anyone know of a decent camera which has a svga movie mode with
 > sound at 30 FPS?
 >
 > I guess I'm looking for a digital camera come camcorder in one?! Oh
 > and Compact Flash (so I can use a CF microdrive..)
 >
 > Any suggestions?
 >
 > Thanks
 >
 > Thin Base

Canon S1 IS. Nice 10x optical zoom 3,2Mpixel stuff. Image stabilizer
etc...seems like quite a camera. I don't have it, but i'm looking around for
a friend. And i think Minolta DiMage Z1 is also capable of such movie and
has very quick focusing. Also 10x optical zoom<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: 640x480 30FPS Movie Mode Camera?? 

£400 in the UK and $500 in the US. Amazon.com state that it's not available
until the 15 May though? (they won't ship here anyhoo)

That does look nice and it meets all my criteria.

Thankyou!

Thin Base

"SleeperMan" <SleeperMan DeleteThis @too.sleepy> wrote in message
news:ZxH8c.6982$%x4.926501@news.siol.net...
 > Sabinthe typed:
 >
  > > Does anyone know of a decent camera which has a svga movie mode with
  > > sound at 30 FPS?
  > >
  > > I guess I'm looking for a digital camera come camcorder in one?! Oh
  > > and Compact Flash (so I can use a CF microdrive..)
  > >
  > > Any suggestions?
  > >
  > > Thanks
  > >
  > > Thin Base
 >
 > Canon S1 IS. Nice 10x optical zoom 3,2Mpixel stuff. Image stabilizer
 > etc...seems like quite a camera. I don't have it, but i'm looking around
for
 > a friend. And i think Minolta DiMage Z1 is also capable of such movie and
 > has very quick focusing. Also 10x optical zoom
 >
 ><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: 640x480 30FPS Movie Mode Camera?? 

Could be that this camera is brand new, since i can't find any decent
reviews with any practical results and photos, just plain quick ones...


Sabinthe typed:

 > £400 in the UK and $500 in the US. Amazon.com state that it's not
 > available until the 15 May though? (they won't ship here anyhoo)
 >
 > That does look nice and it meets all my criteria.
 >
 > Thankyou!
 >
 > Thin Base
 >
 > "SleeperMan" <SleeperMan.TakeThisOut@too.sleepy> wrote in message
 > news:ZxH8c.6982$%x4.926501@news.siol.net...
  >> Sabinthe typed:
  >>
   >>> Does anyone know of a decent camera which has a svga movie mode with
   >>> sound at 30 FPS?
   >>>
   >>> I guess I'm looking for a digital camera come camcorder in one?! Oh
   >>> and Compact Flash (so I can use a CF microdrive..)
   >>>
   >>> Any suggestions?
   >>>
   >>> Thanks
   >>>
   >>> Thin Base
  >>
  >> Canon S1 IS. Nice 10x optical zoom 3,2Mpixel stuff. Image stabilizer
  >> etc...seems like quite a camera. I don't have it, but i'm looking
  >> around for a friend. And i think Minolta DiMage Z1 is also capable
  >> of such movie and has very quick focusing. Also 10x optical zoom<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: 640x480 30FPS Movie Mode Camera?? 

You are quite right.. I did mean VGA though. Although 800x600 or even
1024x768 would be very nice

Thin Base

"Gymmy Bob" <NoThanx DeleteThis @spam.com> wrote in message
news:P6ednX39wt7ND_7dRVn-sA@golden.net...
 > 640x480 is VGA resolution, not svga unless you consider colour depth.
 >
 > "Sabinthe" <anons DeleteThis @binthe.com> wrote in message
 > news:c3v9f7$fsn$1@hercules.btinternet.com...
  > > Does anyone know of a decent camera which has a svga movie mode with
sound
  > > at 30 FPS?
  > >
  > > I guess I'm looking for a digital camera come camcorder in one?! Oh and
  > > Compact Flash (so I can use a CF microdrive..)
  > >
  > > Any suggestions?
  > >
  > > Thanks
  > >
  > > Thin Base
  > >
  > >
 >
 ><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: 640x480 30FPS Movie Mode Camera?? 

640 x 480 in movie mode is real nice and a highly wanted feature over most
of the QVGA capabilities on my Optio 550.

VGA was originally defined as 640x480x 16 colours. Who knows from there?

"Sabinthe" <anons.TakeThisOut@binthe.com> wrote in message
news:c47ijv$4q2$1@sparta.btinternet.com...
 > You are quite right.. I did mean VGA though. Although 800x600 or even
 > 1024x768 would be very nice
 >
 > Thin Base
 >
 > "Gymmy Bob" <NoThanx.TakeThisOut@spam.com> wrote in message
 > news:P6ednX39wt7ND_7dRVn-sA@golden.net...
  > > 640x480 is VGA resolution, not svga unless you consider colour depth.
  > >
  > > "Sabinthe" <anons.TakeThisOut@binthe.com> wrote in message
  > > news:c3v9f7$fsn$1@hercules.btinternet.com...
   > > > Does anyone know of a decent camera which has a svga movie mode with
 > sound
   > > > at 30 FPS?
   > > >
   > > > I guess I'm looking for a digital camera come camcorder in one?! Oh
and
   > > > Compact Flash (so I can use a CF microdrive..)
   > > >
   > > > Any suggestions?
   > > >
   > > > Thanks
   > > >
   > > > Thin Base
   > > >
   > > >
  > >
  > >
 >
 ><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: 640x480 30FPS Movie Mode Camera?? 

Gymmy Bob typed:

 > 640 x 480 in movie mode is real nice and a highly wanted feature over
 > most of the QVGA capabilities on my Optio 550.
 >
 > VGA was originally defined as 640x480x 16 colours. Who knows from
 > there?
 >
I just got Above mentioned Canon (S1 IS). It's movie is quite great, but
sadly it's size is anormous. Currently i have 256 M CF card and i can record
2min 5 sec of movie in 640*480 superfine quality and 2 min 52 sec in 640*480
normal quality. Even with 1 G microdrive this would be only about 9
minutes...
It's great movie, but only for a really short clips. Of course that's all at
30 FPS rate. If i lower to 15 FPS, it's all doubled. And there's also option
320 * 240 at 30 or 15 fps, so lowest quality gets 12 min 15 sec of movie at
256M Note that even this is same or even better than a lot of other cameras
have.
Currently, only down side of this camera i can say is it has a trouble with
focusing in low ambient lighting. And here we're talking in a living room
with 3x40W standard lamps. My old Olypmus C300 has no problems focusing in
same light conditions...that's strange...indeed.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: 640x480 30FPS Movie Mode Camera?? 

Sounds like no compression going on in your movie mode.

Optio 550 320x240 15 fps I can record 10 minute snips max but I am sure I
can get 10 or more on 256M.
Mine are .mov format


"SleeperMan" <SleeperMan.RemoveThis@too.sleepy> wrote in message
news:o5kac.7257$%x4.967603@news.siol.net...
 > Gymmy Bob typed:
 >
  > > 640 x 480 in movie mode is real nice and a highly wanted feature over
  > > most of the QVGA capabilities on my Optio 550.
  > >
  > > VGA was originally defined as 640x480x 16 colours. Who knows from
  > > there?
  > >
 > I just got Above mentioned Canon (S1 IS). It's movie is quite great, but
 > sadly it's size is anormous. Currently i have 256 M CF card and i can
record
 > 2min 5 sec of movie in 640*480 superfine quality and 2 min 52 sec in
640*480
 > normal quality. Even with 1 G microdrive this would be only about 9
 > minutes...
 > It's great movie, but only for a really short clips. Of course that's all
at
 > 30 FPS rate. If i lower to 15 FPS, it's all doubled. And there's also
option
 > 320 * 240 at 30 or 15 fps, so lowest quality gets 12 min 15 sec of movie
at
 > 256M Note that even this is same or even better than a lot of other
cameras
 > have.
 > Currently, only down side of this camera i can say is it has a trouble
with
 > focusing in low ambient lighting. And here we're talking in a living room
 > with 3x40W standard lamps. My old Olypmus C300 has no problems focusing
in
 > same light conditions...that's strange...indeed.
 >
 ><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: 640x480 30FPS Movie Mode Camera?? 

I doubt that compression is going on in either case. 640x480 at 30fps is 8
times the pixels of 320x240 at 15 fps.

Chuck Davis

"Gymmy Bob" <NoThanx DeleteThis @spammie.com> wrote in message
news:4-udnUAu46Z9kffdRVn-gg@golden.net...
 > Sounds like no compression going on in your movie mode.
 >
 > Optio 550 320x240 15 fps I can record 10 minute snips max but I am sure I
 > can get 10 or more on 256M.
 > Mine are .mov format
 >
 >
 > "SleeperMan" <SleeperMan DeleteThis @too.sleepy> wrote in message
 > news:o5kac.7257$%x4.967603@news.siol.net...
  > > Gymmy Bob typed:
  > >
   > > > 640 x 480 in movie mode is real nice and a highly wanted feature over
   > > > most of the QVGA capabilities on my Optio 550.
   > > >
   > > > VGA was originally defined as 640x480x 16 colours. Who knows from
   > > > there?
   > > >
  > > I just got Above mentioned Canon (S1 IS). It's movie is quite great, but
  > > sadly it's size is anormous. Currently i have 256 M CF card and i can
 > record
  > > 2min 5 sec of movie in 640*480 superfine quality and 2 min 52 sec in
 > 640*480
  > > normal quality. Even with 1 G microdrive this would be only about 9
  > > minutes...
  > > It's great movie, but only for a really short clips. Of course that's
all
 > at
  > > 30 FPS rate. If i lower to 15 FPS, it's all doubled. And there's also
 > option
  > > 320 * 240 at 30 or 15 fps, so lowest quality gets 12 min 15 sec of movie
 > at
  > > 256M Note that even this is same or even better than a lot of other
 > cameras
  > > have.
  > > Currently, only down side of this camera i can say is it has a trouble
 > with
  > > focusing in low ambient lighting. And here we're talking in a living
room
  > > with 3x40W standard lamps. My old Olypmus C300 has no problems focusing
 > in
  > > same light conditions...that's strange...indeed.
  > >
  > >
 >
 ><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: 640x480 30FPS Movie Mode Camera?? 

On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 19:16:27 -0500, "Gymmy Bob" <NoThanx.RemoveThis@spammie.com>
vaguely proposed a theory
.......and in reply I say!:
remove ns from my header address to reply via email

Hope I get my "figgers" right here.

I think there is compression. AFAICS 640*480 * 3 byte depth * 30 FPS *
120 seconds = 3,317,760,000 , or enough to fill a DVD! <G> To fit this
on 256MB is a 13:1 compression, which is quite aggressive by digicam
standards.

Gymmy Bob, your 320 * 240 * 3 * 15 fps * 600 seconds = 2,073,600,000,
so you need less compression than the above to get it to 256 MB.

Having said that, MPEG2 _at "commercial quality"_ seems to be able to
get at least 20:1 compression over the uncompressed size:
720*480 * 3 * 25 fps * 60 secs per min * 60 mins per _standard_
(single layer) DVD = 186,624,000,000.

But basically, until we have a mini-dvd still camera, or huge jumps in
electronic storage (not unlikely) storage will be limited.

 >Sounds like no compression going on in your movie mode.
 >
 >Optio 550 320x240 15 fps I can record 10 minute snips max but I am sure I
 >can get 10 or more on 256M.
 >Mine are .mov format

  >> I just got Above mentioned Canon (S1 IS). It's movie is quite great, but
  >> sadly it's size is anormous. Currently i have 256 M CF card and i can
 >record
  >> 2min 5 sec of movie in 640*480 superfine quality and 2 min 52 sec in
 >640*480
  >> normal quality. Even with 1 G microdrive this would be only about 9
  >> minutes...

snip

 > 30 FPS rate. If i lower to 15 FPS, it's all doubled. And there's also
 >option
 > 320 * 240 at 30 or 15 fps, so lowest quality gets 12 min 15 sec of movie
 >at
 > 256M Note that even this is same or even better than a lot of other
 >cameras
**************************************************** sorry

..........no I'm not!
remove ns from my header address to reply via email

Does Bill Gates dream of electronic sheep?<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: 640x480 30FPS Movie Mode Camera?? 

Gymmy Bob typed:

 > Sounds like no compression going on in your movie mode.
 >
 > Optio 550 320x240 15 fps I can record 10 minute snips max but I am
 > sure I can get 10 or more on 256M.
 > Mine are .mov format
 >
 >
 > "SleeperMan" <SleeperMan DeleteThis @too.sleepy> wrote in message
 > news:o5kac.7257$%x4.967603@news.siol.net...
  >> Gymmy Bob typed:
  >>
Like other guys said, i think it is a bit of compression. Not ehowever that
this Canon has AVI format, while my old Qlympus has mov (quick time movie)
format. Although Canon mumbles something about needing Quicktime movie to
watch movies, WMP plays them. In any case, since i'll do merely pictures,
and every now and then some small clips, it's excellent.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: 640x480 30FPS Movie Mode Camera?? 

"SleeperMan" <SleeperMan RemoveThis @too.sleepy> wrote in
news:ZxH8c.6982$%x4.926501@news.siol.net:


 > Canon S1 IS. Nice 10x optical zoom 3,2Mpixel stuff. Image stabilizer
 > etc...seems like quite a camera. I don't have it, but i'm looking
 > around for a friend. And i think Minolta DiMage Z1 is also capable of
 > such movie and has very quick focusing. Also 10x optical zoom
 >
 >

Careful with the Minolta DImage Z1 if you're looking for strong movie
mode. Its sound is out of sync with the picture at 30fps - VGA mode.
Check out the review on dcresource.com for a sample movie clip. Speaking
of dcresource.com, they have a full review of the S1 IS as well (they had
it before anyone else did, I don't know how they got their hands on
one...). Of course, since they are now available, I think lots of
reviews will be available in the near future.

The Fuji F700 has impressive VGA 30fps movie mode as well. It's $200
cheaper than the S1 IS, but uses a proprietary battery and xD storage.
Still, it's much tinier, it's faster, and $200 can buy a lot of spare
batteries!

Panasonic lumix cameras are worth a look too, if you're more interested
in 30fps than 640x480 resolution. Excellent optics, great zoom, image
stabilization, and expensive!!

My choice is the Canon S1 IS, fwiw. I'll be getting it in a couple
weeks.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: 640x480 30FPS Movie Mode Camera?? 

Careful with the "proprietary battery" as a negative. I have owned 3 cameras
so far with standard AA cells and now a Pentax Optio 550 with aproprietary
battery. I got a spare one right away when I bought it.

Let me tell you this. The spare battery wasn't necessary unless I want to go
longer than a week without my charger in my suitcase. I travelling around
Lake Huron for a week and took 300-400 pictures over the period of a week
and never had to charge the battery until the last day. It wasn't necessary
because I was using the backup battery at that point.

Bad contacts, taking them out into a charger, checking each cell is getting
a charge, lasting 2-3 hours, never using the LCD as a view finder, turning
off the features, carrying extra cells? Never again. I leave it all one. I
think I had used the rangefinder viewer in my Optio 3 times in the last 6
months. The LCD stays on and all the features are being used with it. How do
they do it?. I don't know.

Before people get uptight about the cell capacity I was using 2000mAh AA
cells, NiMh.

Get the LioN cells. They are worth it.


"ubernatural" <john_fletcher*ns*@shaw.ca> wrote in message
news:Xns94C15F7D33451ubernatural@24.64.223.211...
 > "SleeperMan" <SleeperMan.RemoveThis@too.sleepy> wrote in
 > news:ZxH8c.6982$%x4.926501@news.siol.net:
 >
 >
  > > Canon S1 IS. Nice 10x optical zoom 3,2Mpixel stuff. Image stabilizer
  > > etc...seems like quite a camera. I don't have it, but i'm looking
  > > around for a friend. And i think Minolta DiMage Z1 is also capable of
  > > such movie and has very quick focusing. Also 10x optical zoom
  > >
  > >
 >
 > Careful with the Minolta DImage Z1 if you're looking for strong movie
 > mode. Its sound is out of sync with the picture at 30fps - VGA mode.
 > Check out the review on dcresource.com for a sample movie clip. Speaking
 > of dcresource.com, they have a full review of the S1 IS as well (they had
 > it before anyone else did, I don't know how they got their hands on
 > one...). Of course, since they are now available, I think lots of
 > reviews will be available in the near future.
 >
 > The Fuji F700 has impressive VGA 30fps movie mode as well. It's $200
 > cheaper than the S1 IS, but uses a proprietary battery and xD storage.
 > Still, it's much tinier, it's faster, and $200 can buy a lot of spare
 > batteries!
 >
 > Panasonic lumix cameras are worth a look too, if you're more interested
 > in 30fps than 640x480 resolution. Excellent optics, great zoom, image
 > stabilization, and expensive!!
 >
 > My choice is the Canon S1 IS, fwiw. I'll be getting it in a couple
 > weeks.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: 640x480 30FPS Movie Mode Camera?? 

"Gymmy Bob" <NoThanx.TakeThisOut@spammie.com> wrote in
news:zJWdnbOOXNBD3O3dRVn-tA@golden.net:

Thanks, that's good insight. I should take a closer look at the Fuji
F700's battery capacity...

 > Careful with the "proprietary battery" as a negative. I have owned 3
 > cameras so far with standard AA cells and now a Pentax Optio 550 with
 > aproprietary battery. I got a spare one right away when I bought it.
 >
 > Let me tell you this. The spare battery wasn't necessary unless I want
 > to go longer than a week without my charger in my suitcase. I
 > travelling around Lake Huron for a week and took 300-400 pictures over
 > the period of a week and never had to charge the battery until the
 > last day. It wasn't necessary because I was using the backup battery
 > at that point.
 >
 > Bad contacts, taking them out into a charger, checking each cell is
 > getting a charge, lasting 2-3 hours, never using the LCD as a view
 > finder, turning off the features, carrying extra cells? Never again. I
 > leave it all one. I think I had used the rangefinder viewer in my
 > Optio 3 times in the last 6 months. The LCD stays on and all the
 > features are being used with it. How do they do it?. I don't know.
 >
 > Before people get uptight about the cell capacity I was using 2000mAh
 > AA cells, NiMh.
 >
 > Get the LioN cells. They are worth it.
 ><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: 640x480 30FPS Movie Mode Camera??