any tips for a video camera small enough to carry in a pocket for skiing ?? we have a regular camcorder (mini DV) but found it is too bulky and heavy and last year the moisture sensor shut the camera down when it got a bit damp from snow and we couldnt use it for 2 hrs. this year i used the video setting on my digital camera as it used solid state recording so no moving parts. it was OK, 640x480 resolution but its limited in that the zoom cant be operator once recording has started and the picture is a bit jerky (records at 15 fps not 25fps like standard video) with moving subjects. what i need is a half way house - something that uses solid state recording media (ie SD cards or the like) with a decent zoom and picture quality. any ideas ? its especially more relevant now as our four and a half year old has started skiing ans we want to capture him to show the folks at home (i would have loved to have captured the moment on the last day of the holiday where he set off down the hill, ahead of me shouting "turbo power" and zoomed into the distance !!!)
Very pleased with it. Very small and light and the helmet cam part is perfectly competent too.
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
mmmm - nice but quiet expensive ...relative to a much better quality miniDV camcorder. but then i guess you are paying for the miniaturisation.
1)how log does the battery last
2) can you record continuously until the SD card is full ??
3)how long do you get on a 1GB card ?
4)can you zoom whilst in the middle of recording ?
5) does it do stills ?
Should have thought about getting one of those for my brother for his Birthday. He has just gone off to Vail and it would have been ace for the jealous me to watch when he gets back.
Which was very good, but you do need to be careful with camera angles if putting on a helmet as our first take was all of sky, the second was of the ground, we finally wedges some card enderneath to obtaiin the correct angle and our snowboarding kids just held it (like a gun) and filmiedwhilst we were all on the move.
I got an Oregon Scientific helmet cam for christnas, quality isnt great, but it straps onto your helmet and gives some great shots.
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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
backhojo, you're right in that it is very small. It's no bigger than a pack of cards so finding a pocket to keep it in is very easy. To answer your questions,
1) I think the battery lasts roughly an hour of continuous recording but to put that into perspective, when I'm skiing and videoing, I've not yet had to change the battery during the day. I would recommend keeping it in an inside jacket pocket rather than an outside pocket though as this preserves the battery life. We all like to be warm!
2) yes you can record till the SD card is full
3) According to the manual you'll get 43mins on a 1Gb SD card at full resolution in 'Fine' mode. I've been using 2gig cards. They're so cheap now.
4) Yes you can zoom while recording. The zoom has a set speed which can be a bit quick at times. The stability control is very good though and it has a snow mode for adjusting the exposure.
5) I think it does do stills but most video cameras do poor still images and this one is no exception.
I would say it's plus points are it's size, solid state, helmet camera (quite a decent wide angle), stability control and snow mode. It's negative points are zoom speed too fast, buttons can be fiddly although they're still managable with gloves on - just, problems reported if you're using the camera with an apple mac, for the same money there are probably other cameras with better picture quality but having said that it still isn't a bad picture.
This was filmed mostly on the helmet cam the week before last in Mayrhofen. It doesn't really show the quality as youtube has had a good chew on it but you'll get some idea of what it can do in a snow situation.
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daehwons, that looks interesting. but no optial zoom
krekeg, thanks for all the info. it certinaly looks good on the video side but i need good stills as well
i am sure it cant be that hard to make a camera with a decent zoom that does good stills and good video. maybe i will try a decent stills camera that does video also as then you get a decent lens. dont really need the head cam / bullet cam as iwll be standing still when taking shots.
thanks for all the advice
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Backhojo, the trouble with stills pictures on video cameras is that the CCD or CMOS sensor in a video camera is no where near as high a resolution as a propper digital camera. DVD quality on requires a resolution of 720x576. A 3 megapixel (which isn't very high anymore) digital camera has a resolution of 2048x1536. If the video was capable of the same resolution as the digital camera then it wouldn't be able to write the information to the card quick enough and would soon run out of space too.
I have the video in one pocket and a camera in the other. All bases covered!
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
krekeg, so why not but a hig res cmos sensor in to do good stills then make it work at 25% for video ?? i guess thats how the video on stills cameras work ?? we have a 4meg stills that does good video but the problem is that it is only 15fps so its a bit jerky. i think i need to go downthe route of getting a good still camera with good video on it.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
backhojo, second the samsung. My brother has one and as a helmet cam it is great or unplug and use it as a normal camcorder, remote on off/record and easy play back on to a telly in the evening. this camcorder is so small it fantastic. Use a seperate camera for stills.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
krekeg, I like the youtube film.
I'm thinking about getting a cam, but I know very little - what else is needed to edit the clips, add music and graphics etc....?
Cheers,
Chris.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
HarryOK, i have been looking at this camera. but again crap stills. i am sure with all the technology out there what i am looking for is not unreasonable or impossible. all i want is VGA MPEG movies , 10x optical zoom and 4 meg stills. !!!!
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
chrisdavis , I've just starting using Sony Vegas for editing my videos. It's about 70 quid but I'm only scratching the surface of what it can do. Windows XP and Vista comes with Windows Movie Maker which is good for combining clips and adding music etc and obviously it's free!
Glad you liked the video by the way
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Sat 26-01-08 19:47; edited 1 time in total
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
backhojo, I just realised that my other camera does what you're asking. It's a Fuji S9000 - 10.7x optical zoom plus video. This is the link to the next model down but has the same features;
http://www.fujifilm.com/products/digital_cameras/s/finepix_s6500fd/performance.html
Might be a bit large though but it's a good camera. A bit like an SLR but with a fixed lense.
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
krekeg, Thanks for the info...didn't realise I had movie maker - until I looked
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Gregd, thats cool as i was considereing the ixus 70. is the viewfinder of any use - i have read reviews that say it is useless but i think its always handy to have one due to now being able to see the screen in bright sunlight
After all it is free
After all it is free
I have been using the movie function of a digital camera to do the video shots.
First one was a Canon PowerShot G2 and later changed to a Olympus Camedia C-5060 with 5.1 Megapixels. Don't do many shots but I just did a two weeks trip in Austria. Think I re-charged the battery once, even though it was no need to do it. I carry a 8Gb CF card and there was no more than 3Gb recorded in the 14 days trip, with mixed photos and video clips.
When I get into a nice cruising blue, red or even black slope I would film the wife skiing. The longest skiing video I shot was about 10 minutes using up 150Mb. I bought a spare battery but never had a need to use it.
I find the digital camera adequate for our needs.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
backhojo, Thank's.! Can't comment on the viewfinder as i've never had call to use it and never had a problem viewing the screen in bright conditions.
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
) and it does 
job done??????????
