Is there any way to manually set it to 1/30th when shooting video?

Also is there any way to get the video that you shoot to sd card so it's not tiny and 15fps?

I am also very curious about this. Why does it stop at 1/60?? Any way if you hear an answer please post. Thanks

Many cams don't go below 1/60th or 1/50th in manual. If you set the cam in one of those low light settings, a lower speed will be set.

Thanks very much. Good to know.

yes i wish that i had more control then that. i have a mx-500. i know that the sony 2100 has a lot of control over this dont know about the 2000 though. another thing also is that when in low light settings the shutter speed is lower that 25 or 30 anyway i believe. just a question i haven't tried it but is the low light better in frame mode on these cams as that would effectively be 25 or 30p. just a query. i dont think it is though. it should be
damn it heh.

Justin

The VX2000 has 1/60th, 1/30th, 1/15th and 1/7.5 or there abouts. (Manual settings) Of course it's got the higher settings as well. The GL1's lowest shutter speed is 1/60th, but the newer GL2 has these low shutter speeds. My MX300 (PAL) just goes to 1/50th. My DVL9500s have 1/15th and 1/7.5, but not 1/30th setting. Even the DVX100 and JVC Streamcorder don't have these manually set low shutter speeds.

As far as saving higher quality video to SD memory. I don't believe this is possible even though Supervideo.com might lead you to believe otherwise.

another thing i must also say to add to this topic is using the low light settings on the mx-500 puts the camera in manual focus mode which on a camera with servo manual focus can be quite annoying. It is not the quickest camera to manually focus but it is possible and is easy enough to get accurate. it is just too slow. come on pana. help us out here give us at least 1/25 / 1/30. I would just love the gains for low lighting on this setting.

Justin

Most Sony cams use line doubling so there is a resolution loss when going slower that 1/60. This is becasue they use interlaced CCD sensors.

The DV953 in Magic Pix mode uses either a 1/20 or 1/25 shutter. Get lots of smearing with movement. Frame mode captures at an effective 1/30 although the shutter is 1/60. It gives 1 F-stop more light, but introduces chroma noise at very low light.

Guy what you mean is usually known as motion blur. Smear is a different kind of problem. A vertical streaking when there is too much contrast. It's a technical problem with CCD's.

Yep, motion blur is what I meant, not streaking or smearing. Should have been more precise in my terminology. Thanks.

Thanks for the info on the sd card Tommy, i thougth i was missing something.

Very long time ago when we were discussing what would be the perfect cam I said an opinion that it would be the GS100 if it had the 1/30 shutter speed and better viewfinder!

I think in certain situations when using the live night mode (not low light from the menu but hitting once the low light button) it goes from 1/15 (or was it 1/8) to 1/25 or 1/30. But this is completely out of controll and only when enough light is present.

I don't really understand how it works either because you can't adjust anything....it's just a one touch deal....?? Does the shutter speed act as auto depending on the dark levels?
I'm also wondering about the pro cinema feature, is it for use when you are making video for 16/9 DVD playback or what?

I don't really understand how it works either because you can't adjust anything.The cam adjusts it for you.I'm also wondering about the pro cinema feature, is it for use when you are making video for 16/9 DVD playback or what?Yes, for widescreen TV, from corner to corner.

Thanks Frank. I appreciate the help. I'm from Vancouver as well. Oak street.
Cheers

Bogdan it's from 1/8 to 1/500 and the cam adjusts by itself according to illumination level.

Anyway, don't you think we are asking too much for a $1,000 cam? I still think the GS100 is better than good enough for this price, and certainly the best among all consumer cams in the market right now.

Of course I would love to have bigger CCDs and bigger lenses that what this Pany offers but I'd rather not pay at least JPY198,000 to have that kind of cam.

Chris, I'm at 3rd & Yew, a stone's throw from Oak St.

Regarding lack of shutter settings below 1/60, this has been one of my biggest beefs over the years. The 1/30 and 1/15 settings makes for some interesting effects. Unfortunately, I only have the 1/15th and 1/7.5 setting on my DVLs. The 1/15 is good, or useful, the 1/7.5 I find useless; but I would really like to have the 1/30 setting. For PAL, 1/25 would be nice.

My other main beef is small CCDs, followed with poor built-in audio and slow responding auto adjustments (focus and white balance). Oh, one more, I wished consumer cams would would have thread sizes that are 49mm or higher, since pro filters usually start with the 49mm size and up.

Yes, Allan!
Totally agree with you - really happy with the GS100 :)

I meant 1/8 to about 1/30 when it's in color night mode (doesn't go faster than that I think and usually is 1/8 or 1/15).
In the zero color night mode the shutter is 1/4 and help from the LCD light.

In the low light mode (effect from the menu list) it's also auto shutter but the gain hits the max 18dB. It also apears to me slightly lighter than if you use 1/60, and manually set to 18dB in manual mode so there is some addition from the low light effect itself.

Chris, to add for the pro-cimnema - it applies specific gamma (slightly redish) to achieve film-like mood (together with the frame mode and the wide screen).

Smooth Color Night Mode:

It does go faster than 1/15 as the illumination level increases. The thing is, it's difficult to distinguish between low light mode and normal mode once light level becomes sufficient :-). Or it could be that the smooth color mode automatically deactivates once the cam senses sufficiently light. Try playing with your cam by panning from dark to not so dark to bright areas. I find best use for this feature in medium light.

In zero lux color night mode, I think it goes as slow as 1/4 (that's almost the same as the low-light mode of the previous 953/MX5K), so it's practically useless unless you use a tripod and your subject is not moving.

49mm filter thread, that's a brilliant idea Frank.

Again I have to agree.
It's usefull as you say if you are in really dark and shoot slow moving objects. If it happens better lit object than it's almoast as in normal mode. In medium light it helps and the movements are not so chopy (cause it shifts to 1/15)

To add about the zero lux mode - usually it's bound for shooting sleeping babies, supposing they are not moving :)

I guess with very small cams, 49mm threads would be too big for their lens housing. 37mm seems to be a common size for small cams.

manual low shutter speed or not, i have NO complaints with the gs100 and i'd buy it again in a flash. The video that this thing shoot is beautiful, especially when viewing on a television. I totally dig pro-cine mode, it gives a really distinct look, it's nice.

The only weak point of the camera is it's still photos, but i have a digital still anyways so it's a non-issue.