Which one for best movies at cheapest price?

[adric22]

I'm looking to get a new digital camera and my main concern has nothing to do wiwth megapixels or anything like that. My current 2.4 MP camera is adequate for all my picture taking needs. What I want is a great movie mode so that I don't have to carry a camcorder around to record those special moments. I mean, the camcorder won't be completely replaced, but you get the idea. I just bought my wife a Fuji Finepix Z1 and the movie quality is extreemly impressive, with its MPJEG at 640x480 @ 30 fps.. However, it takes a lot of memory and runs out quickly. I can only get about 2 minutes on a 128MB card. So here are my two requirements:

Be under $300
High quality video @ 30 fps, minimum of 320x240, prefer option of 640x480
I'd prefer a better movie format, like MPEG-2 or something so the file-size won't be so huge.

I've examined about 15 cameras so far, and none of them really fit my criteria. So anybody got any suggestions?

[ishturkish]

Be under $300
High quality video @ 30 fps, minimum of 320x240, prefer option of 640x480
I'd prefer a better movie format, like MPEG-2 or something so the file-size won't be so huge.


From your post it's not quite clear how important size is to you. If size isn't much of an issue, Olympus c770 may be what you are looking for, with mpeg-4 movie recording, and just under $300
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/olympus/c765uz_770uz-review/

If you're looking for an ultracompact with this feature, there's the casio s750 and sony DSC-M1 (for around ~$400).

Pentax has released a new camera based on their s5i, called s5z. It isn't in stores yet, but should be in a week or two (if you're willing to wait). The MSRP for this is $350, which means you will be able to get it for under $300 at online merchants soon. This one seems to be the closest fit for you..

P.S. If you already have the Z1, why not just invest in some XD cards, it will probably come out cheaper.

[adric22]

P.S. If you already have the Z1, why not just invest in some XD cards, it will probably come out cheaper.

As I mentioned, that was for my wife and I doubt I'll get to use it very often. Besides, in order to record an hour of video, I'd need like a couple of 1-GB XD card, which would cost almost as much as I paid for the camera.

I'm not in a huge hurry.. I'll read up on the two cameras you mentioned.

[Dachi]

I'm looking to get a new digital camera...
Be under $300
High quality video @ 30 fps, minimum of 320x240, prefer option of 640x480
I'd prefer a better movie format, like MPEG-2 or something so the file-size won't be so huge.

I've examined about 15 cameras so far, and none of them really fit my criteria. So anybody got any suggestions?

You should also check out the ixus 30, 40 and 50 (aka sd 200, 300, 400). These cameras have a great video features, such as the 640x480 @ 30 fps and even 320x240 @ 60fps(!), the only downside to the later is that it will only allow up 1min. of recording. But the standard 640x480 is only limited by the size of your sd card!

[kimnicho]

Nikon 3700 is 3.2 MPG but has 640x480 VGA movie mode (only limited by size of your SD card ) ! Butterflyphoto.com has it for $200 !

[MPEG4]

both cameras have great video mode at 640x480@30fps up to 70 minutes to 1GB SD card using MPEG4 video compression with video stabilization powered by ZORAN COATCH 7 processor from ZORAN ( http://www.zoran.com/press_room/2005/3_21_05_samsung_v700dc.htm )

I have U-CA 5 camera : it 5MPx compact camera and i think it cheap enoegh i think

[ZCarroll]

I'm glad to see the samsungs mentioned... I don't know why I don't see more about these cameras. I was really super impressed with all the features the digimax v-70 (this one has a rotating lcd also) has in such a small and inexpensive (comparatively) camera -amazing, amazing! I know some earlier samsungs had issues with poor image quality but not so any more and again I don't know why I don't read more about this amazing camera. It does have mpeg4 high quality videos, however they are quicktime and I just can't get past that myself, that would be almost my only gripe... the other one is slower than some other 7mp cams as far as shutter lag, but when I was testing it I wasn't using high capacity batteries so I'm not sure how really noticable it would be with correct batteries or using the one it comes with (it has multiple battery options, just one of many great features about this camera)

[MPEG4]

for .mov files i know one programm that can help get .avi files without loss of quality, reencoding or using QuicktimePro< it may be very usefull if want to edit your movies with VirtualDub

you can get it in https://sourceforge.net/projects/mp4cam2avi/


MP4Cam2AVI is a MPEG4 to AVI converter/joiner for digital MPEG4 cameras, it makes their clips DivX/XviD compatible. MJPEG and H263 are supported as well. Program doesn't re-encode video, just passes video data to avi container.