Movies with a digital still camera ?

[janvanlaethem]

I am new to the digital forum, so forgive me if I'm asking a question that has

been debated over and over. I used the search engine, but can't find what I'm

looking for.

 

I am interested in buying a digital movie camera (Sanyo Xacti VPC-C6) and was

surprised to see it can actually take 5MP digital photographs. Although I

understand the photo quality will be nowhere near that of a digital SLR, the

main reason I would buy it is for holidays. I guess I'm getting a bit tired of

hauling a film SLR and several lenses wherever I go.

 

But then I was checking out the new Leica D-LUX 3 and see that, apart from

taking 10MP digital photographs, it can also take movie clips of -

surprisingly - the same resolution as the Sanyo I was looking at: 640 x 480

at 30 frames per second. And even at a higher resolution, but at a slower 15

frames per second.

 

To make my decision even more difficult is that both the Sanyo and the Leica

cost approximately the same.

 

So my question is: can a digital movie camera take good photographs, and can a

digital photo camera take good movies? Or are these cameras compromises and

there is no such thing as a good quality all-in-one film-movie camera ?

 

Any help is appreciated.

 

regards

 

Jan

[ben conover]

Hi, if there were such a camera then you wouldn;t have to ask the question becuase you'd already know about it....

 

Also, it depends on your needs. If you want basic stuff then sure there are products thatt will qualify. If you want great quality you need separate systems.

 

Perhaps in the future video cameras will have better sensors but it's expensive.

 

Cheers.

[leicaglow]

My experience is they are not good at two different jobs. The frame rate at 15 FPS is just too slow and the choppy appearance will drive you nuts. My Nikon Coolpix stores them as Quicktime Movies, which are not fun to work with given the editing software I own.

 

When I bought my Canon DV camera, I wasn't interested in still images because I have a great Nikon system to handle it, but I did informally evaluate the 5 Mp video cameras to see how good they were. I would not put it up against any 5 Mp still camera I've seen, and I think it has to do with sub-standard optics in many of these cameras. One caveat: I only looked at most DV cameras up to $600, and not the $1000 to $1500 ones.

[musubi1000]

Look at the Panasonic counter part to the Leica. It is basically the same camera minus the little red badge and with the added benefit of a little nub to grip the camera. There are some minor differences like cosmetics and software bundle but it the core camera is almost a duplicate. Images with the Leica show a slight color tweak other than that same image quality.

[Jochen_S]

Another vote for compromise. AFAIK some cartoons or movies with dolls as actors were captured with DSLRs.

 

Just watched some attempts to capture movies with my own P&S. Results were crappy and maybe just good enough to be emailed. I'd say they are far below what I remember to be TV quality.

[janvanlaethem]

Thanks a lot for your answers.

 

I've checked out the Panasonic DMC-LX2 and see it is available at my local camera shop for just under 500 Euros. I was expecting 550 to 600 Euros. I might just wait until the Leica D-Lux 3 comes out or until we can see some side-by-side pictures taken with both cameras before I make up my mind.

 

I will probably add a 300 to 400 Euros video camera at a later stage for holidays and use the still camera for what it's made for: taking pictures.

 

regards

 

Jan

[joshua_dollins]

The nice thing about this feature is you can take short video clips without anyone knowing they just think your taking photos! And actually my canon powershot makes great videoclips with exception for sound quality which is pretty bleh. I prefer to have a camcorder and a camera but its definetly nice. on a 1gig card I can shoot a few minutes worth of video. I've heard of people getting up to 33 minutes on one very large card.