OT: Nifty Camera

pkh · Since 27 Feb 2005 6549 Posts Couve / Hood Honored Founder

Camcorder is on the fritz and I would like to update our still camera at some point, this could be a good candidate:

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0801/08010601casiof1.asp

HD Video Camera + 60 FPS still shot camera + 12x (432mm) zoom for $999

I've been thinking SLR would be our next still cam but it'd be nice to have an HD camcorder and a good still cam in one package.

Kodiak · Since 01 Aug 2005 1114 Posts Slidey

That thing loks pretty slick. I imagine you would need a huge video card to keep up with all those pictures or video.

Kataku2k3 · Since 14 Aug 2005 3754 Posts PDX-LA Videographer

"60 fps at full resolution for 1 second or 5 fps for 12 seconds"

If it's 60 progressive images, that's pretty cool, but if it only can capture for 1 second at that then I think it may be a waste... Tak's SR7 does high-speed capture (240 fields per second), but with a 3 second capture time, even a raley is hard to catch.

This 60 image sequence shot looks okay, but not up to what a fast SLR can do. Also remember that high frame rate shit takes a ton of light, since the shutter is closed most of the time.

pkh · Since 27 Feb 2005 6549 Posts Couve / Hood Honored Founder

No doubt its still cam images won't be matched by an SLR, but the video is what has me intrigued. Check out what's possible when filming at 600-1200FPS:

http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/06/casios-ex-f1-shoots-in-superslowmo/

Adam you'd know better than I, but are there any HD camcorders that do slow-mo in the sub $1500 range?

Kataku2k3 · Since 14 Aug 2005 3754 Posts PDX-LA Videographer

Aside from the Sony's, I'm not sure of any others...

Jeff's Sony SR7 (hard drive HD, which you can get for ~$1000) is capable of doing 3 seconds of 240 fields/sec. (at decreased resolution, just as the Casio), and is then playted at the standard 60 fields/sec. giving you 12 seconds of slow-motion footage. Kinda cool, but at decreased resolution, it's not that great, and as I said before, it takes a ton of light to have a well lit shot.

I didn't make this vid, but it's done with an HC7 (just the miniDV version of Jeff's) and is probably slowed down a bit more since they edited it. Main thing is the raw footage off the cam won't be much if any clearer than this youtube version. When stretched to its native output, it always has that slight blur.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67ckP7Be-F0

Don't get me wrong, the Casio's cool, it just needs more memory (buffer) to record shots longer...

This is what we need!
RED ONE CAM - 4K

pkh · Since 27 Feb 2005 6549 Posts Couve / Hood Honored Founder

I don't think it has the 1 second limit in video mode, just one when shooting the max resolution.

I guess my question is there a HD camcorder that can do 60fps or more and won't break the bank (ala Red Cam)?

Kataku2k3 · Since 14 Aug 2005 3754 Posts PDX-LA Videographer

Just re-read it, and you're right, Phil. Doesn't seem like there's a limit in video mode, but the resolution is decreased dramatically from HD (512 × 384 @ 300fps to 336 × 96 @ 1200fps). Any standard HD or DV setting is still filmed at 30fps (60 fields/sec).

pdxmonkeyboy · Mon Jan 07, 08 5:13 pm

That seems like a pretty sweet camera indeed. I have been passively looking for a good SLR and a HD camcorder. It seems this may be the best of both worlds. The question is, how much HD video to you think you could store on a single 2 gig or 4 gig memory card?

Nak · Mon Jan 07, 08 6:27 pm

Or 8Gb... I have an A-data 8GB class 6 SDHC from New Egg that I got for $29. It's been working perfectly; just thought I'd pass that along...

Kataku2k3 · Since 14 Aug 2005 3754 Posts PDX-LA Videographer

Figure most of the newer HD cams have a bit-rate between 15-25mb/sec... And for some reason, a lot of the AVCHD cams I've seen have a lower bit-rate (less room for info to be stored - even if the cam has a better imager) than their miniDV cousins.

pkh · Since 27 Feb 2005 6549 Posts Couve / Hood Honored Founder

For $500 more you can get this one from Sony, records to hard drive in 1080p and includes image stabilization:

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Sony-HDR-SR12-First-Impressions-Camcorder-Review-34178.htm

pkh · Since 27 Feb 2005 6549 Posts Couve / Hood Honored Founder

Looks like the Sony probably wins on the slow-mo features (slow-mo in HD anyway):

Kataku2k3 · Since 14 Aug 2005 3754 Posts PDX-LA Videographer

Good find, Phil! I hadn't seen the '08 Sony line. That cam is pretty much identical to Jeff's (size, controls, looks, etc.) aside from all the new features.

But as far as the video, I don't know why Sony's keeping the bit-rate down... Doesn't do any good to support 720/1080i/p if you're trying to cram more info into the same amount of "space." And AVCHD isn't that cool. I'm working with it a little right now, and the only stuff I can view it in is my editing software (or the stupid Sony transfer software that comes with the cams).