[senit] digital still cameras

We use Mavicas within school which use both stills and mpg we also use

On choosing a compact digital camera for video use.

VIDEO FORMATS
=============
Generally camera manufacturers stick to one video format for all their
cameras (there may be exceptions and sometimes a manufacturer will switch
from one format to another). I've done a little research and found that
these are the formats that the main digicam manufacturers are currently
using:

Canon: AVI
Casio: AVI
Fuji: AVI
Nikon: MOV
Olympus: AVI
Panasonic: MOV
Pentax: AVI
Ricoh: AVI
Samsung: AVI
Sony: AVI

The AVI format is generally much easier for Windows PC users than the (Apple
Quicktime) MOV format. You can play MOVs in Windows if you download the free
(but in my opinion awful) Quicktime player but it's difficult to do anything
with them other than simple playback. For example Windows Movie Maker
supports AVI (and WMV) but not MOV. I use the free RAD Video Tools to
convert MOV to AVI but it's far less hassle to get a camera that uses the
right format in the first place. Apple Mac users will find the MOV format
far more convenient as its support is built into OS X.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
====================

Image Stablisation
The new batch of Image Stablisation/SuperSteady Shot cameras result in much
smoother footage for handheld videoing.

Resolution
Different cameras record video at different resolutions. While most cameras
record at a satisfactory 640x480 pixels, some only record at 320x240 and one
or will record at the much more viewable 800x600 or even 1024x768.

Frame Rate
Some older cameras can only record decent resolutions at 15 frames per
second which results in low-quality stuttering video.

Compressing
The AVI files created by the cameras are compessed to allow more video
length to be fitted onto your memory card. Some cameras (such as some of the
Nikons) tend to over-compress the video which results in poorer quality.
Other cameras use more modern compression techniques such as DivX which will
require a (free) download to be installed on to any computer on which you
want to play them.

I hope some of this information is helpful and accurate - always check
before purchasing. I tend to use www.dpreview.com as it lists almost every
available camera with all their vital statistics and some in-depth reviews.

Incidentally, I use a Canon G7 as a street camera and to record video clips
but the new Canon TX1 looks like a great combination digital camera/video
recorder. It records at HDTV resolution (1280x768) and has a 10x zoom with
image stabilisation in a body the size of an IXUS. Could be a great
investment for a school but i've yet to read a detailed review of it.

I have a little portfolio of my photographs availalbe at
www.charliedanger.com if you're interested. They vary in quality but i think
some are worth looking at.

TTFN

Charlie Danger
www.bltt.org

On 17/04/07, rbowstead at allsaints.stockton.sch.uk <
rbowstead at allsaints.stockton.sch.uk> wrote:

> We use Mavicas within school which use both stills and mpg we also use
> digital blues which are cheap and easy to use.
> david fettes <davidfettes3 at yahoo.co.uk> on Tue, 17 Apr 2007 12:40:58 +0100
> (BST) wrote:
> > hi anyone recently got any digital still cameras that
> > also take movie clips as follows- avi or mpg , not
> > quicktime (.mov) , AND have sound on the clips?
> > Last school had polaroid dig still cams with avi movie
> > clip facility with sound, but the avis couldnt be
> > inserted into powerpoint normally only via control
> > box. current school has olypus did still cameras with
> > QT . mov movie clips but no sound. QT clips don't go
> > into Powerpoint easily. The idea is that staff and
> > students can easily take movie clips with sound and
> > insert to powerpoint (on windows) without  messing
> > around with converters or media file settings. anyone
> > got newish cameras that definately do that?!
> > cheers
> > david
> >
> >
> >       ___________________________________________________________
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>
>
> ---
> Ros (ICT)
>
> rbowstead at allsaints.stockton.sch.uk
> http://www.allsaints.stockton.sch.uk/
>
>