Canon A95, about movie modes?

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Im pretty certain I want this camera, but just wondered about the movie
mode..........?

Is the length you can record on movie mode dependant only on the size
of the memory card, or is it the camera itself? If it is the memory
card, how long a clip would a 256/512 card get me at the different
resolutions?

Lastly (sorry for being so ameteurish and dumb) but can movie modes
only be done with the camera stationary, or can you move it around and
record on the move like a camcorder?

Many thanks

Lee

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

waxwabbit wrote:
> Im pretty certain I want this camera, but just wondered about the movie
> mode..........?
There is a video clip on this page you can view.
http://www.steves-digicams.com/200 [...] mples.html
>
> Is the length you can record on movie mode dependant only on the size
> of the memory card, or is it the camera itself?
The length of each clip depends on the camera.
640x480-30seconds
320x240-3minutes.
The card size will obviously limit the total number of clips you can
store.
If it is the memory
> card, how long a clip would a 256/512 card get me at the different
> resolutions?
A 256 will hold 374 seconds of 640x 480, and 735 seconds of 320x240.
Logically, the 512 holds twice as much.
You can download the manual here-
http://consumer.usa.canon.com/ir/c [...] elid=10468
>
> Lastly (sorry for being so ameteurish and dumb) but can movie modes
> only be done with the camera stationary, or can you move it around and
> record on the move like a camcorder?
Yes you can move it around but you will be hard pressed to hold it
steady enough for the shaking not to be obvious. Also you can select the
zoom before you begin, but you cannot zoom in and out afterwards. In low
light conditions the grain will be more apparent with the digital camera.
>
> Many thanks
>
> Lee
>
If you want limited movie capability you may be completely happy with
the A95. If you want much more capability, I suggest you go the Canon S1
instead. The S1 is only 3 megapixel versus the A95 5 megapixel but most
people find it fine for printing up to 8 x 10 s and the 10x zoom will
negate the megapixel difference on telephoto shots. You can view some
reviews here-

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_reviews/s1is.html
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canons1is/
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/ [...] ndex.shtml
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PR [...] 1-IS-A.HTM
http://www.megapixel.net/cgi-bin/f [...] eview.html


I don't have an A95 but an A70 which has identical movie capabilities
and I have the S1 on which to base my comparison.
The first thing you notice is the S1 has image stabilization while the
A95 does not. The results are dramatic. The S1 has a frame rate of 30
FPS while the A95 frame rate is only 10 FPS at the highest resolution.
The end results are much smoother. The S1 can zoom in and out (quietly
and at a variable rate) while recording, the A95 cannot. The clip size
limit of the S1 is over 9 minutes at the highest setting, and 1 hour at
the lowest settings.
Remember- movies eat up a lot of memory. The highest resolution setting
on the S1 uses 1gig for a little over 9 minutes. Also, to take the
highest setting continuous movie without using up the buffer you need a
card with at least a 12 to 16 times speed rating. Here is a list of
cards that work-
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/ [...] e=11038851

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

"Dave Martindale" <davem@cs.ubc.ca> wrote in message news:cqpo7a$rj$3@mughi.cs.ubc.ca...
> "waxwabbit" <waxwabbit@altavista.com> writes:
>
> >Lastly (sorry for being so ameteurish and dumb) but can movie modes
> >only be done with the camera stationary, or can you move it around and
> >record on the move like a camcorder?
>
> You can certainly move the camera during the movie. However, you cannot
> use the zoom control while shooting. A real video camera will allow you
> to zoom while shooting.

That's not true of all digital still cameras, e.g. the zoom on
Canon's S1 IS is fully functional while in movie mode.