Perhaps I could have phrased that better.

If you convert to H.264 at or a little higher than the target 5Mbps rate for Vimeo 1280x720 video then you will see next to no difference in quality between what you upload & what Vimeo hosts. So when you are happy with the quality at 5Mbps then you know that Vimeo won't mess it up. The other advantage is that it will take less time to upload than if you upload a higher bit rate file. You have no way of knowing how Vimeo will recompress your video or what the quality will be like especially if it's not H.264.

What about Adobe Media Encoder; anyone using that? I basically can create my own Flash video with this tool. Video quality looks outstanding!

If you can create your own flash at around or under 1mbs, then Blip.tv is your friend. You can upload your flash file and they will stream it WITHOUT re-encoding the file. Plus, they'll play it back at 30fps (whereas Vimeo will both re-encode and play it back at 24fps). Although Blip won't do "HD", but I get GREAT results from 640x360 1mbs FLV uploaded to their servers when it comes to streaming content.

Vimeo apparently no longer converts HD video to 25fps but leaves it unaltered if it is up to 30fps.

I'm skeptical considering the terrible stuttering I see in most 5D2 videos on Vimeo. Where'd you get that info? Any links to their faqs or ? I'm not saying it isn't true, but I'm not convinced either.

Also, I've yet to find any other FREE video resource than Blip.tv that will stream my file verbatim without re-encoding it. That right there is worth trying Blip.tv alone.

One of the Vimeo staff stated in their forum that now that they convert everything to H.264 & not FLV that they don't force the frame rate to 25fps for HD but leave it unchanged up to 30fps. I don't have a link but remember it well for I was involved in the conversation as I had been bitching about the terrible juddering on 5DII videos & even got a refund on my Vimeo Pro account because the quality was unacceptable. It seems OK now provided that you have the latest Flash Player installed & a decent network connection (1280x720 is 5Mbps)

Thanks for following up. This intrigues me, maybe I've give them a second look now.

So I notice my raw files, the .MOV files direct from the camera, appear to 'flicker' or pulse/jerk about once every second. Is this due to playback, write speed to the CF card, etc. ??? Please help ???