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Features Featured Articles Digital Convergence
Features Featured Articles Digital Convergence
Digital ConvergenceIs the “one-device-does-it-all” camera here yet? |
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Page 2 of 6 While early digital still cameras that could also shoot movies were limited to short durations (sometimes less than 30 seconds) by the camera itself, many of today’s models allow you to shoot until you fill the memory card in the camera. A number of current still digital cameras employ MPEG-4, a video compression technology that gets more information into a given amount of space than MPEG-2, so you can shoot longer video clips at camcorder quality. Pentax’s Optio A10 and Optio S6 feature DivX technology, which shrinks digital movies up to 10 times as much as MPEG-2 while retaining excellent image quality. Note that you probably won’t be able to edit MPEG-4 and DivX movies with older editing software; you’ll need the newest versions to handle the newest technologies. Digital clips can take up a lot of space on memory cards. The higher the resolution, the greater the frame rate, and the longer the clip, the greater the amount of space required: A given-length 640 x 480 video takes up four times as much space as a small 320 x 240 clip of the same length, a 30-second 30 fps clip takes up twice as much space as a 30-second 15 fps clip, etc. Camcorders use 80-minute miniDV tapes, 30 GB mini-hard drives or record directly to DVDs (many will also record on SD cards), so memory isn’t quite the problem it can be with a still camera. Today’s memory cards come in much larger capacities and are much more affordable than they were a few years ago, so you can just buy a 1 GB or larger-capacity card if you want to do a lot of videos with your still camera. DivX and even standard MPEG-4 compression have made this much less of a problem than with earlier still cameras. A number of digital still cameras offer built-in image stabilization, which is probably even more important when shooting movies than for still photography—you don’t want to make the viewers of your movies “seasick” from incessant camera jiggle. Some allow you to zoom the lens during movie-shooting, another handy feature. The Canon PowerShot S2 IS and S3 IS utilize Ultrasonic focusing and zooming motors, which minimize noise during zooming and focusing—not a problem with still shots, but definitely a factor when shooting sound movie clips. Some digital still cameras will adjust exposure, white balance and focus as necessary during filming, while others won’t. Speaking of sound, most digital still cameras that can shoot movies can also record sound. But not all can, so if sound movies are important to you, make sure a potential camera purchase provides this capability. Also, while most camcorders have a jack for an external microphone, few still cameras do.   |
