Pentax Optio MX at Costco ($399)

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video,rec.video.desktop,rec.photo.digital,alt.comp.periphs.dcameras (More info?)

This camera claims 10x optical zoom, 3.2MP stills, 640x480x30fps
MPEG videos stored on SD card.

Does anyone have any experience with this camera?

Are there any stills and/or videos from this camera posted anywhere
on the internet?

 

[AnthonyR]

Archived from groups: rec.video,rec.video.desktop,rec.photo.digital,alt.comp.periphs.dcameras (More info?)

Good questions, I seen it at Costco also, looks nice and small but would
think it's more a gadget than a practical camera for video anyway, large SD
cards cost much more than tapes and if you need to constantly transfer, it's
sounds interesting though, would like some opinions on it.

I was leaning towards the new Sony DSC-100 or other 5.1 mp camera which does
video also on memory stick.
Although I would have preferred an SD card over sony stick for pricing
purposes.

AnthonyR.

<hbaker1@pipeline.com> wrote in message
news:f173f01pfcsrd3ib5ometnas9lvgu50450@4ax.com...
> This camera claims 10x optical zoom, 3.2MP stills, 640x480x30fps
> MPEG videos stored on SD card.
>
> Does anyone have any experience with this camera?
>
> Are there any stills and/or videos from this camera posted anywhere
> on the internet?
>
>

 

[Leo]

Archived from groups: rec.video,rec.video.desktop,rec.photo.digital,alt.comp.periphs.dcameras (More info?)

<hbaker1@pipeline.com> wrote in message
news:f173f01pfcsrd3ib5ometnas9lvgu50450@4ax.com...
> This camera claims 10x optical zoom, 3.2MP stills, 640x480x30fps
> MPEG videos stored on SD card.
>
> Does anyone have any experience with this camera?
>
> Are there any stills and/or videos from this camera posted anywhere
> on the internet?


Why do you concern about the video quality from those digicam? They are just
gadgets which have no practical use. Get yourself a DV camcorder instead for
real video shooting. Only DV tapes have enough storage for quality videos.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video,rec.video.desktop,rec.photo.digital,alt.comp.periphs.dcameras (More info?)

leo wrote:
> <hbaker1@pipeline.com> wrote in message
> news:f173f01pfcsrd3ib5ometnas9lvgu50450@4ax.com...
>> This camera claims 10x optical zoom, 3.2MP stills, 640x480x30fps
>> MPEG videos stored on SD card.
>>
>> Does anyone have any experience with this camera?
>>
>> Are there any stills and/or videos from this camera posted anywhere
>> on the internet?
>
>
> Why do you concern about the video quality from those digicam? They
> are just gadgets which have no practical use. Get yourself a DV
> camcorder instead for real video shooting. Only DV tapes have enough
> storage for quality videos.

I agree: if you want useful digital video in the terms usually
associated with Digital Video, there is no substitute for a Digital
Video Camera; I will take exception to the "no practical use" assertion.
I personally have recorded half a dozen historical events, otherwise
lost to posterity, by use of a Digital Still Camera's video capabilities
in circumstances prohibiting the use of Digital Video Cameras. That is
unequivocally a practical use.



--
Frank ess

Forecasting is difficult. Particularly about the Future.
—Deepak Gupta

 

[AnthonyR]

Archived from groups: rec.video,rec.video.desktop,rec.photo.digital,alt.comp.periphs.dcameras (More info?)

"leo" <someone@somewhere.net> wrote in message
news:9cGIc.5417$kK.1500@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net...
> <hbaker1@pipeline.com> wrote in message
> news:f173f01pfcsrd3ib5ometnas9lvgu50450@4ax.com...
> > This camera claims 10x optical zoom, 3.2MP stills, 640x480x30fps
> > MPEG videos stored on SD card.
> >
> > Does anyone have any experience with this camera?
> >
> > Are there any stills and/or videos from this camera posted anywhere
> > on the internet?
>
>
> Why do you concern about the video quality from those digicam? They are
just
> gadgets which have no practical use. Get yourself a DV camcorder instead
for
> real video shooting. Only DV tapes have enough storage for quality videos.
>
>
Leo,
I currently have a digital camera that only does video at 320 x160, and when
I didn't bother to plan a video
for a simple gathering, tiny little video clips of people just saying hello,
are so cool to have rather than just stills on a camera.
Remember early film movie cameras? They only held 3 minutes of film, and
people took less wasted shots, yet some family vacation films were still
boring, lol.
Maybe less is more, anyway, having the power to do 640x480 at 30 fps on a
still camera on sd memory can come in handy when there is no video event,
and you are just taking pictures and then decide to capture 10 seconds of a
person saying hello etc. after many years, those 10 seconds are just as
priceless as the snapshot, and there would have been no video at all without
that power because let's face it, most people don't carry a dv camera
everywhere.
Although getting them smaller, integrating them with digital cameras, and
making storage digital so your forced to constantly upload to another medium
like computer hard drive and dvd, will help more people start to take videos
just about anywhere at anytime. You must have vision beyond what is
available or practical today, the future always is different than what we
think it should be.
AnthonyR.

 

[AnthonyR]

Archived from groups: rec.video,rec.video.desktop,rec.photo.digital,alt.comp.periphs.dcameras (More info?)

I decided to go with the new sony w-1 digital camera and it does video at
640x480 at 30fps on memory stick pro, which is a faster version of the
memory stick. It was about the same price online as the Pentax Optio,
doesn't have 10x optical zoom but has 12x total zoom with optical and
digital together, and takes better stills at 5.1 megs, plus it looks like a
digital camera so people won't expect to be on video, which is always fun.
The other one looks like a movie camera and expectations will be too high
for its capabilities.

Again, this is not for a video event, I do have a DV camera for that. It's
for simple family gatherings when taking pictures and a small video clip is
a welcome surprise to capture voice and sound as well as a persons
mannerisms, that can all be done
great on a 15 second clip, no dv camera really needed just for that.

AnthonyR

<hbaker1@pipeline.com> wrote in message
news:f173f01pfcsrd3ib5ometnas9lvgu50450@4ax.com...
> This camera claims 10x optical zoom, 3.2MP stills, 640x480x30fps
> MPEG videos stored on SD card.
>
> Does anyone have any experience with this camera?
>
> Are there any stills and/or videos from this camera posted anywhere
> on the internet?
>
>

 

[Leo]

Archived from groups: rec.video,rec.video.desktop,rec.photo.digital,alt.comp.periphs.dcameras (More info?)

"AnthonyR" <toomuchspam@tolisthere.com> wrote in message
news:UnRIc.19533$oW6.4716992@twister.nyc.rr.com...
>
> "leo" <someone@somewhere.net> wrote in message
> news:9cGIc.5417$kK.1500@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net...
> > <hbaker1@pipeline.com> wrote in message
> > news:f173f01pfcsrd3ib5ometnas9lvgu50450@4ax.com...
> > > This camera claims 10x optical zoom, 3.2MP stills, 640x480x30fps
> > > MPEG videos stored on SD card.
> > >
> > > Does anyone have any experience with this camera?
> > >
> > > Are there any stills and/or videos from this camera posted anywhere
> > > on the internet?
> >
> >
> > Why do you concern about the video quality from those digicam? They are
> just
> > gadgets which have no practical use. Get yourself a DV camcorder instead
> for
> > real video shooting. Only DV tapes have enough storage for quality
videos.
> >
> >
> Leo,
> I currently have a digital camera that only does video at 320 x160, and
when
> I didn't bother to plan a video
> for a simple gathering, tiny little video clips of people just saying
hello,
> are so cool to have rather than just stills on a camera.
> Remember early film movie cameras? They only held 3 minutes of film, and
> people took less wasted shots, yet some family vacation films were still
> boring, lol.
> Maybe less is more, anyway, having the power to do 640x480 at 30 fps on a
> still camera on sd memory can come in handy when there is no video event,
> and you are just taking pictures and then decide to capture 10 seconds of
a
> person saying hello etc. after many years, those 10 seconds are just as
> priceless as the snapshot, and there would have been no video at all
without
> that power because let's face it, most people don't carry a dv camera
> everywhere.
> Although getting them smaller, integrating them with digital cameras, and
> making storage digital so your forced to constantly upload to another
medium
> like computer hard drive and dvd, will help more people start to take
videos
> just about anywhere at anytime. You must have vision beyond what is
> available or practical today, the future always is different than what we
> think it should be.
> AnthonyR.


Well, I have had several digital cameras with video features but I never
used it beyond the first try out. I do have a DV camcorder when I am
interested in taking videos. I have a wide screen HDTV and before I can
afford an HDTV camcorder, I am thinking of getting Canon's standard
definition wide screen camcorder. ;-)

I guess some people are satisfied with the throw back short 8mm film
experience.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video,rec.video.desktop,rec.photo.digital,alt.comp.periphs.dcameras (More info?)

On Tue, 13 Jul 2004 15:40:24 GMT, "leo" <someone@somewhere.net> wrote:

>"AnthonyR" <toomuchspam@tolisthere.com> wrote in message
>news:UnRIc.19533$oW6.4716992@twister.nyc.rr.com...
>>
>> "leo" <someone@somewhere.net> wrote in message
>> news:9cGIc.5417$kK.1500@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net...
>> > <hbaker1@pipeline.com> wrote in message
>> > news:f173f01pfcsrd3ib5ometnas9lvgu50450@4ax.com...
>> > > This camera claims 10x optical zoom, 3.2MP stills, 640x480x30fps
>> > > MPEG videos stored on SD card.
>> > >
>> > > Does anyone have any experience with this camera?
>> > >
>> > > Are there any stills and/or videos from this camera posted anywhere
>> > > on the internet?
>> >
>> >
>> > Why do you concern about the video quality from those digicam? They are
>> just
>> > gadgets which have no practical use. Get yourself a DV camcorder instead
>> for
>> > real video shooting. Only DV tapes have enough storage for quality
>videos.
>> >
>> >
>> Leo,
>> I currently have a digital camera that only does video at 320 x160, and
>when
>> I didn't bother to plan a video
>> for a simple gathering, tiny little video clips of people just saying
>hello,
>> are so cool to have rather than just stills on a camera.
>> Remember early film movie cameras? They only held 3 minutes of film, and
>> people took less wasted shots, yet some family vacation films were still
>> boring, lol.
>> Maybe less is more, anyway, having the power to do 640x480 at 30 fps on a
>> still camera on sd memory can come in handy when there is no video event,
>> and you are just taking pictures and then decide to capture 10 seconds of
>a
>> person saying hello etc. after many years, those 10 seconds are just as
>> priceless as the snapshot, and there would have been no video at all
>without
>> that power because let's face it, most people don't carry a dv camera
>> everywhere.
>> Although getting them smaller, integrating them with digital cameras, and
>> making storage digital so your forced to constantly upload to another
>medium
>> like computer hard drive and dvd, will help more people start to take
>videos
>> just about anywhere at anytime. You must have vision beyond what is
>> available or practical today, the future always is different than what we
>> think it should be.
>> AnthonyR.
>
>
>Well, I have had several digital cameras with video features but I never
>used it beyond the first try out. I do have a DV camcorder when I am
>interested in taking videos. I have a wide screen HDTV and before I can
>afford an HDTV camcorder, I am thinking of getting Canon's standard
>definition wide screen camcorder. ;-)
>
>I guess some people are satisfied with the throw back short 8mm film
>experience.
>

So they are coming out with hdtv 'ready' video cameras?

Pj

 

[Leo]

Archived from groups: rec.video,rec.video.desktop,rec.photo.digital,alt.comp.periphs.dcameras (More info?)

"PJx" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news0caf0lj81o6qakqn16s5b79b3sa54r0f7@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 13 Jul 2004 15:40:24 GMT, "leo" <someone@somewhere.net> wrote:
>
> >"AnthonyR" <toomuchspam@tolisthere.com> wrote in message
> >news:UnRIc.19533$oW6.4716992@twister.nyc.rr.com...
> >>
> >> "leo" <someone@somewhere.net> wrote in message
> >> news:9cGIc.5417$kK.1500@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net...
> >> > <hbaker1@pipeline.com> wrote in message
> >> > news:f173f01pfcsrd3ib5ometnas9lvgu50450@4ax.com...
> >> > > This camera claims 10x optical zoom, 3.2MP stills, 640x480x30fps
> >> > > MPEG videos stored on SD card.
> >> > >
> >> > > Does anyone have any experience with this camera?
> >> > >
> >> > > Are there any stills and/or videos from this camera posted anywhere
> >> > > on the internet?
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > Why do you concern about the video quality from those digicam? They
are
> >> just
> >> > gadgets which have no practical use. Get yourself a DV camcorder
instead
> >> for
> >> > real video shooting. Only DV tapes have enough storage for quality
> >videos.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> Leo,
> >> I currently have a digital camera that only does video at 320 x160, and
> >when
> >> I didn't bother to plan a video
> >> for a simple gathering, tiny little video clips of people just saying
> >hello,
> >> are so cool to have rather than just stills on a camera.
> >> Remember early film movie cameras? They only held 3 minutes of film,
and
> >> people took less wasted shots, yet some family vacation films were
still
> >> boring, lol.
> >> Maybe less is more, anyway, having the power to do 640x480 at 30 fps on
a
> >> still camera on sd memory can come in handy when there is no video
event,
> >> and you are just taking pictures and then decide to capture 10 seconds
of
> >a
> >> person saying hello etc. after many years, those 10 seconds are just as
> >> priceless as the snapshot, and there would have been no video at all
> >without
> >> that power because let's face it, most people don't carry a dv camera
> >> everywhere.
> >> Although getting them smaller, integrating them with digital cameras,
and
> >> making storage digital so your forced to constantly upload to another
> >medium
> >> like computer hard drive and dvd, will help more people start to take
> >videos
> >> just about anywhere at anytime. You must have vision beyond what is
> >> available or practical today, the future always is different than what
we
> >> think it should be.
> >> AnthonyR.
> >
> >
> >Well, I have had several digital cameras with video features but I never
> >used it beyond the first try out. I do have a DV camcorder when I am
> >interested in taking videos. I have a wide screen HDTV and before I can
> >afford an HDTV camcorder, I am thinking of getting Canon's standard
> >definition wide screen camcorder. ;-)
> >
> >I guess some people are satisfied with the throw back short 8mm film
> >experience.
> >
>
> So they are coming out with hdtv 'ready' video cameras?
>
> Pj


There IS already a HD camcorder, 1CCD (720p) from JVC. Sony will have a 3CCD
HD camcorder. They are expensive, of course. I am talking about Canon's
widescreen camcorder, already in the market. Not HD but the sensor is wide
screen format, instead of merely letterboxed in other low end camcorders.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video,rec.video.desktop,rec.photo.digital,alt.comp.periphs.dcameras (More info?)

I agree with Anthony. In addition to my three Sony D8s, I recently
bought
the Canon S1 IS. It has great video capabilities at 640x480 at 30fps.
Works well for family gatherings where people (little ones, the
grandchildren) don't suspect that they are being "taped". The camera
has a wireless remote
controller that allows me to record without anyone knowing. Of course
you have to "mute" all sounds, disable the tally light and so on. The
length of the movie
is not limited to 30 seconds. You can get as much as 9 minutes on a
1Gb
CF card. The cards are expensive ($170) at the moment, but I expect
them to
come down in a few months. Another good thing about this camera is the
optical (tiny gyroscopes) image stabilization. Works great for stills
and
movies. It has a 10x optical zoom, so in a way it bridges the gap
between
a digicam and a video camcorder.

Tod.


"AnthonyR" <toomuchspam@tolisthere.com> wrote in message news:<9uRIc.19561$oW6.4718173@twister.nyc.rr.com>...
> I decided to go with the new sony w-1 digital camera and it does video at
> 640x480 at 30fps on memory stick pro, which is a faster version of the
> memory stick. It was about the same price online as the Pentax Optio,
> doesn't have 10x optical zoom but has 12x total zoom with optical and
> digital together, and takes better stills at 5.1 megs, plus it looks like a
> digital camera so people won't expect to be on video, which is always fun.
> The other one looks like a movie camera and expectations will be too high
> for its capabilities.
>
> Again, this is not for a video event, I do have a DV camera for that. It's
> for simple family gatherings when taking pictures and a small video clip is
> a welcome surprise to capture voice and sound as well as a persons
> mannerisms, that can all be done
> great on a 15 second clip, no dv camera really needed just for that.
>
> AnthonyR
>
> <hbaker1@pipeline.com> wrote in message
> news:f173f01pfcsrd3ib5ometnas9lvgu50450@4ax.com...
> > This camera claims 10x optical zoom, 3.2MP stills, 640x480x30fps
> > MPEG videos stored on SD card.
> >
> > Does anyone have any experience with this camera?
> >
> > Are there any stills and/or videos from this camera posted anywhere
> > on the internet?
> >
> >