Noisy Movie Mode?

[Fivos]

Dear A200 owners...

I read in a review that the continuous AF makes a constant "typewriter noise" in movie mode. Is this true? And if it is, how loud does it sound?

If you try to override the problem by turning Continuous AF off, can the zooming ring be used, or does the image become blurry automatically when you zoom in/out?

Thaks! :)

[timrand]

I notice a small amount of low-level background hum of my movies in a quiet room. If there is conversation or other noise then this isn't objectionable.

[Fivos]

Thanks timrand!
I ordered mine yesterday before I read your post so... I was determined to find out myself anyway!

[Rob vdKam]

Hmmmm. I've taken only one real movie test at an indoor night-time event the other day (I've had my A200 for two weeks) and panned the hall slowly from back to front, then slowly zoomed in on the singer on stage. The focus remained good throughout (thought the picture was grainy due to low light) even staying in focus as I zoomed. And I did NOT set the autofocus to continuous - The camera does not seem to allow that anyway (I only see manual focus or automatic?).

Is it possible that the focus, exposure, ISO, etc are adjusted automatically? For example, lighting was different in different parts of the hall, but exposure also remained quite good throughout my clip. I didn't get the camera for films, but am interested in this and will do some testing in the next few weeks and months.

[JPW2020]

The A200 certainly does produce a "typewriter" sound in movie mode when using autofocus.If you put your ear to the camera back before filming it is distinctly audible so you can see why the mike picks it up.That said,I do not consider it to be intrusive as it is only really noticeable when taking movies in scenes of near silence.A more noticeable problem is that the sound tends to be out of synch from the movie.However there is free software available that can rectify this without too much hassle.If anyone needs details please respond and I will supply further info.I think that focus exposure Iso etc are automatically dealt with by camera as Rob suggests.On balance the movie mode is acceptable if not up to the standards of the Canon S1.The picture quality and camera handling is excellent so despite my qualifications about the movie mode I can strongly recommend the camera.

[sjescott]

Hi
A few months ago I experimented a bit and this is what I found:
When 30 fps is used, the camera records that tapping sound in noisy environments. In quiet environments, it is present, but less significantly. When I recorded my daughter's piano playing (...she plays beautifully - that's not what I meant by noise) I got that tapping sound pretty badly though. When I went to 15 fps however, it was reduced significantly, to where the tapping was almost undiscernable.
So, to make up for the bug, I shoot at 800x600 (which is only at 15 fps) - which ups the resolution, even though the fps is halved... My last digital camera had less than 15 fps, so I'm ok with it - especially with the 800x600 capability.
After I had solved this problem, we decomissioned our old tape video camera. With the addition of the full version of quicktime (the one that you actually have to pay for), the A200 has become an amazing video tool. The quicktime allows you to painlessly put the clips together by dragging and dropping them into the main screen. The result: some great full length family movies.
Steve