Canon Digital Still Camera Information?

Tommy James · November 10th, 2005, 04:08 PM

Well the Canon Powershot S80 changes all the rules. For the very first time a digital still camera with ists high resolution movie mode has better wide angle spatial resolution than most mini-dv video cameras. Now I'm not saying that it can beat a dedicated video camera because after all pixel count is not everything. For example if it would be compared to the Canon GL-2 the Canon GL-2 in full telephoto mode would have 10 times the spatial resolution of the Canon S-80 because the Canon S-80 has no optical zoom capability in its high rez movie mode. Also its low temporal resolution rates of 15 frames per secound make it very jerky and almost unwatchable if you pan the camera too fast. Nevertheless according to the Phil Askey the overall quality of the video it produces is good and compression artifacts are negligible and a one gigabyte SD card can shoot 8 minutes of high resolution video. Of course the Canon S-80 is not a video camera it is a digital still camera and it cannot replace a good quality video camera. But there is no doubt in my mind that the Canon S-80 has the best movie mode of any digital still camera and it raises the bar even on dedicated video cameras. Pretty soon you will see dedicated video cameras with high rez movie modes selling for around 500 dollars in order to compete with the Canon S-80.

Dylan Couper · November 12th, 2005, 09:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tommy James

Pretty soon you will see dedicated video cameras with high rez movie modes selling for around 500 dollars in order to compete with the Canon S-80.

No, I'm pretty sure you won't. Resolution is irrelevant compared to how the footage coming out of it looks. Additionaly, 15fps will never compete in a consummer market with 30fps. More importantly 8 minutes on a $100 1gig chip will never, ever compete with 60 minutes on a $6 video cassette.

Also, did you really say "temporal resolution rates"???

Jonathan Shannon · November 17th, 2005, 01:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul Bravmann

actually, there's a histogram in the camera's viewfinder that i'd like to figure out how to use properly.
phb

Most good digital photo "how to" books give a good explanation of the histogram and how to use it. Also, many of today's photo mags devote a lot of space to the digital workflow....and histogram's are a common topic. I have and can really recommend PCPhoto.

Hope this helps.

Jonathan Shannon · November 18th, 2005, 10:46 AM

...in fact, the 12/2005 issue of PCPhoto has an excellent article on the Histogram.

November 18th, 2005, 10:46 AM	#19
Jonathan Shannon Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Valley Springs, CA Posts: 34	back again ...in fact, the 12/2005 issue of PCPhoto has an excellent article on the Histogram. __________________ Jonathan Shannon Sierra Nomad Photography www.YosemiteTrailsDVD.com

November 10th, 2005, 04:08 PM	#16
Tommy James suspended -- contact admin Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 214	Well the Canon Powershot S80 changes all the rules. For the very first time a digital still camera with ists high resolution movie mode has better wide angle spatial resolution than most mini-dv video cameras. Now I'm not saying that it can beat a dedicated video camera because after all pixel count is not everything. For example if it would be compared to the Canon GL-2 the Canon GL-2 in full telephoto mode would have 10 times the spatial resolution of the Canon S-80 because the Canon S-80 has no optical zoom capability in its high rez movie mode. Also its low temporal resolution rates of 15 frames per secound make it very jerky and almost unwatchable if you pan the camera too fast. Nevertheless according to the Phil Askey the overall quality of the video it produces is good and compression artifacts are negligible and a one gigabyte SD card can shoot 8 minutes of high resolution video. Of course the Canon S-80 is not a video camera it is a digital still camera and it cannot replace a good quality video camera. But there is no doubt in my mind that the Canon S-80 has the best movie mode of any digital still camera and it raises the bar even on dedicated video cameras. Pretty soon you will see dedicated video cameras with high rez movie modes selling for around 500 dollars in order to compete with the Canon S-80.