640 x 480 Movie Mode

[James Carroll]

Hi folks

I'm new to these forums but I have spent some time reading old posts. I can't find the answer to my question.

I currently use an Olympus C-5000 Zoom. I am more than happy with its controlls and output quality of images BUT the 320 x 240 move mode leaves me cold.

I have a digital camcorder but find movie making a lot of work so it mostly gathers dust in a cupboard. However I like to include short movie clips in my slide presentations. Can anyone tell me which cameras have the 'high end' movie mode that Jeff mentions in the buyers guide? (OR a quick way to search the camera database for this feature)

TIA

James Carroll

[Newbie]

You'll have to figure out what you want in a movie mode... and mostly what you want in a camera...

There is the Canon S1 IS which has a quite interesting movie mode. It records in 640x480 for unlimited time(the memory on the card), at 30 frames per second. You can use the zoom during the movie(since its an ultrasonic its pretty quiet) and it has the best sound I have seen 16hertz compared 8 for other cameras(I could be wrong about the unit to measure sound, maybe its not hertz, but it is 16 compared to 8). The camera is a 3MP ultra zoom camera with image stabilizer, it is bigger than average.

There is also the Canon SD200-SD300 which uses the DIGIC II for faster image processing, it has an unlimited 640x480 movie mode at 30 frames per second. What is special about it is that it also has a 320x240 movie mode at 60 frames per second for 1 minute. The camera is an ultra compact camera.

I do not know everything about cameras, so I am unsure of what the other manufacturers offer. What I do know is that most sony cameras offer an unlimited movie recording mode at 30 frames per second using a resolution of 640x480, the drawback is that you have to use memory stick pro, which is costier than the usual CF or SD cards.

Besides that, most cameras offer a movie mode, it is quite good depending on your needs, most Canon cameras offer 30 seconds at 640x480 with 10 frames per second, it is really one of the worst, but considering its a camera, I find that amazing!

The last thing you need to know... If I am not mistaken when you watch tv or a movie, you see 24 or 30 frames per seconds, depending on where you live.

Hopefully I could help u some.

[Emarc]

I was also wondering about movie mode, and how long exactly is "unlimited 640X480 movies until the memory is full" its sounds impressive but is it really that long? (lets say for a memory of 512 MB) See I want to buy the canon powershot A95 but its movie mode is only 640X480 for 30 seconds, which every says is pretty weak. So how much better are the cameras with the good movie modes?

[jaalexzac]

Get a SONY camera. They have the best movie mode for sure !!!

Try Sony W1, Sony V1 and V3.

http://www.dcresource.com/ - in this website, on the preview page of each camera you can download a sample movie and see for yourself.

Anything else except "SONY" is not good at all.

Good Luck :)

Alex.