Digi-cam that can do long footage/clips?

aligamer

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Does any1 know of a digi-camera dat has the ability to record mpeg clips for more dan a few secs/minutes?

Reason being, digi-camcorders dont have good enough pixels for still images as digi-cameras, so i'd prefer to get a camera instead and perhaps use dat as camcorder if there is one dat can record mpeg clips like say 30mins-1hr or more dpendent on how much memory on the stick?

I dont mind if its not full screen, as i seen a clip from a Canon digital IXUS V2, thats pretty much what i require so long as it records longer!

Cheers.
 
I've got a Canon S30 digi cam that can record video until the CF card is full. A 128Mb CF card can record up to 1834 seconds (approx 30 minutes) at 160 x 120 pixels or 502 seconds (approx 8 minutes) at 320 x 240 pixels. So on the highest quality a 1Gb CF card would record just over an hour, but this will drain the battery very quickly!
The S30 is an old model and has been replaced by the newer S45 & S50, but they should also do the same recording in video mode.

Mark.
 
The S45 & S50 have 3 minute maximum record time. You buy a camera because-well it's a camera, it's nice that they can take mpegs to. But in no way can a mpeg from a digital camera compete with a camcorder, anymore then a camcorders stills compete with a digital cameras.

A batterie from a digtial camera could not last an hr in record mode.
 
Must admit that I never use the video mode on my S30 so have no idea what battery life you would get from it, but did say it would drain the battery. The manual does say that it can do continuous recording until the CF card is full. Would have thought the newer models would have been the same.
I agree that the quality is not even up to a Hi8 camcorder which is why I don't use it but aligamer did say that the video seen from an Ixus was as good as was required which is why I did not say anything about the quality.

Mark.
 
Yeah, n1 mark et co, yeah definitely looking in a Canon now, had a quick look at Sony Cybershots, but the amount for a mem stick 1GB compared to CF 1GB is a big difference, i spose Sony always charges premium for their name, hehe.
 
There's a new Canon Powershot S1 just been announced that claims to do both - but it's not exactly pocketable
Canon Powershot S1
 
I have the ixus400 myself. The movie mode like the s45 s50 only takes 3 mins at a time, but it will start up again straight away, you can then edit it with softwear. The mpegs are fine for me, just don't expect it to be up there with camcorder.


the ixus2 (called sd100 in the states) is also max 3minutes

IXUS2
Movies: 640 x 480 pixels (maximum 30 secs.)
320 x 240 pixels (maximum 3 min.)
160 x 120 pixels (maximum 3 min.)
Approx. 15 frames / sec.


S45
320 x 240 pixels (Approx. 3 min)
160 x 120 pixels (Approx. 3 min)
Approx. 15 frames/second


S50
320 x 240 pixels (Approx. 3 min.)
160 x 120 pixels (Approx. 3 min.)
 
If you want something small.

Minolta Dimage XT
320 x 240 or 160 x 120 pixels at 15fps with audio.
Recording time depends only on capacity of memory card.

Or the new Sony DCS-T1 - outsells every other camera big time in Hong Kong and Japan.
up to 640x480 pixels at 30fps with audio although 30fps can only be achieved with MS Duo Pro sticks and they cost, even in HK

A clip in fine resolution can be found here, very nice quality - http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_reviews/t1_samples.html

Wasabi
 
Bare in mind the the xt's batterie is very small, minolta stated that it can take 170 pics (half taken with flash) but in tests it was more like 70 before it started flashin. So i doubt you'll get even half an hr in record mode. But they did say turn the lcd screen off and it will last much longer (not much use if you're using it as view cam that though)

Still a very nice camera though
 
IC, yeah - also i notice dat they (Canon) have time limit on the movie recording modes, does this apply to all digi-cams? R there any dat dont have time limit apart from camcorders! lol
 
As wasabi said the minolta XT has not limit, but it's the batterie life on all small digital cams that will cause a problem.

Why do you want to film for hlf-1hr anyway mate. going into the porn business:laugh:
 
Hhehe yeah cheers, Minolta takes SD cards, expensive compared to the much popular CF cards, - tis strange i think dat the canons have time limit regardless of size of mem card.

Porn movies?, haha nah, just want somthing cheaper, better @ still images dan camcorders! :p

Looking for the in-between thing i spose. :)
 
The canon I gave the link to above does not have a limit.
Here's a snippet from the review:-
"Unlike other digital cameras with short duration movie mode features that capture a clip ranging from a few seconds to a few minutes depending on the resolution, the PowerShot S1 IS digital camera captures full 640 x 480 high-res movies at up to 30 frames per second, ensuring smooth video motion. What's more, individual movie clips can now last as long as one hour depending on the capacity of the memory card or the charge in the battery."
 
The Sony P10/12 can record for as long as the memory stick lasts.
 
Also has anyone seen the Pentax S4 - the smallest camera I have ever seen that has 4MP and 3 times optical zoom. Looks amazing.
 
K, thanks John, yeh dat one seems interesting but not out yet - shame there arent any cams now dat has the S1 movie ability.

Yeah, Rags, price of 1GB mem stick costs an arm and a leg, £500 lol - only a fraction a CF card of dat size costs lol
 
Yeah I agree, memory sticks are way overpriced. My laptop, camcorder are all sony and take memory sticks so I stuck with the brand. However I did get two 256mb memory stick pros from NY for £55 each - much cheaper there.
 
I doubt you'd satnd there with a digital cameara recording a movie for half-1hr mate. What happens when you have these camear is, that at first you'll take a movie of anything someone making the tea and stuff. But in the end most of the films will be shorter then 3 mins anyway. In truth mate most things are not worth recording for more then 3 mins lol . Plus like i said. it's easy to take 10 3 min films and splice them togather with softwear.

I'd say get The minolta xt- no limit- sd cards have come way down now. Go into jessops, ask them for a demo of the xt, see how long the batterie lasts on record.
 
The problem here is that as the others have pointed out, the maximum resolution of movie files on all of these cameras is still only 640x320 which is still less than a cheap DV camcorder.

So even though the camera itself might have a higher resolution, the movie mode does not take full advantage of this.

I am assuming that you want to video for say an hour and then go through the tape, grabbing stills from various points but at high quality.

I am not aware of any camera that will do this at the resolution you are asking for. You can however get some of the DSLRs that will shoot several pictures per second but these will fill a memory card quickly which does not give what you want.

The only other option is to go for a high end pro video camera but even then, the quality of the stills you get will still be less than what you can get from a mid range stills cam
 
IC, so most are now 15fps movies, how wud it look if filmin a TV screen @60hz? Can da canon cams or others handle dat?
 
Yeah they can, but it's nowhere near as good as a camcorder. Your gonna have to make your mind up whats most important. Because you can't really have both,at the size and price you're looking at.
 
Originally posted by aligamer
IC, so most are now 15fps movies, how wud it look if filmin a TV screen @60hz? Can da canon cams or others handle dat?

It's nowt to do wid da fps dude.

It's da resolution dat will affect da quality m8.
 

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