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To all people who have digital SLR.
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Most can't do this. I know for sure that my Canon Rebel XT can't. I'm actually not quite sure if any true DSLR can do this. I can't exactly explain the reasons why very well though, I'm only an enthusiast photographer.
No, a digital SLR does not have the capability of making movie clips. It is specifically a camera for making still images.
Personally, I've never understood why the appeal of movies in a digital P&S. IMHO at best the final product is going to be pretty compromised. If someone wants to make a digital movie, that's fine, so use a digital movie camera, not a P&S camera that isn't always that successful at even making still images, much less a movie....
Personally, I've never understood why the appeal of movies in a digital P&S. IMHO at best the final product is going to be pretty compromised. If someone wants to make a digital movie, that's fine, so use a digital movie camera, not a P&S camera that isn't always that successful at even making still images, much less a movie....
One word answer: convenience.
Sometimes there are times where a "pretty compromised" final product is acceptable.
I wouldn't videotape a wedding using a digital P&S, but if I'm at a friends party just snapping some pictures for the fun of it, and someone decides to do a karaoke imitation, 45 seconds of less-than-perfect video beats even the best version of that story being retold.
I completely agree. I've only used this feature once when I was traveling in Rome and I was in a church and the choir was amazing so I whipped out my P&S camera and recorded a little bit of it.
The pro bodies (SLR) don't have the capability for movies. I speak from experience that I carry a digital SLR for pro photos and a 3CCD mini dv for video. You could not get pro quality out of a combo unit due to space limitations I would suppose. It is a pain to shoot both on the same assignment but can be done. The results were worth it. My wife's point and shoot digicam does both and she loves it. I get jealous when I have to carry two outfits of pro gear. Anyone feel bad for me?
I want to say that one brand has come up with some kind of way around this... I think the same brand that has the EVF. But generally this isn't a feature they offer. Carry a P&S and get over it, basically....
Though not a DSLR, my Canon S3 is awesome in many ways - especially for documenting the growth of my son (in stills and video).
heroldshangout.com (every photo/video with the S2 or S3)
heroldshangout.com (every photo/video with the S2 or S3)
NO DSLR has a movie mode. The reason is quite simple... they have a big CCD/CMOS sensor, that generates more heat than smaller sensors. They also have a mirror in front of the sensor, that directs the image up towards the view finder AND the focus sensors. So, if you open the mirror to allow the light to reach the sensor, you lose the ability to focus.
This is why no DSLR will have a movie mode... aside for the energy requirements of the sensor itself, you would have to manually focus during movie recording.
This is why no DSLR will have a movie mode... aside for the energy requirements of the sensor itself, you would have to manually focus during movie recording.
I went back and followed up on my previous post. The Olympus eVolt 330 was the one I was thinking of. It does have a live EVF, and so I don't see any obvious technical reason why it could not also take movies were it programmed to do so (I believe it uses a second sensor to make the EVF work). But it doesn't have the ability to make movies, as far as I can tell.
In any event, I don't think it's quite fair to say it's technically impossible, although the number of tricks you'd have to do to get it to work on the full size main sensor would be prohibitive. I think it *is* accurate to say there's nothing on the mass / prosumer market that does this.
The E-330 does not have an electronic view finder, but it offers live preview on the LCD. It does that with crap image quality WITH autofocus (via a 2nd small sensor and half reflecting mirror to the viewfinder, letting some light through to that sensor and the other light to the view finder), or WITHOUT autofocus, using the bigger sensor for the live preview.
You could use the big sensor with its good image quality for a movie mode, but then the camera does not provide auto focus. So for that to work, you actually would have to in corporate a 2nd auto focus system just for the movie mode too, that works like it does on compact cameras.
Sorry, my bad. But there was a dSLR announced recently with EVF... do you remember which it was?
Don't get me wrong. I have a 300D, which I like just fine. It's not the newest dSLR, but with a 50mm / f1.4, it's a terror.
I have no desire for a movie mode (I've got an S50 too) and I've got no desire for an EVF (psssh, I'd rather have a manual focal plane imaging ring like my old K1000 did).
You just must be confusing electronic viewfinders with using the main LCD for framing (live preview). The E-330 and Panasonic L1 both have live preview.
EVFs mimic the optical viewfinders of (D)SLRs. They show what you would see through the lens, just like the optical viewfinder of a DSLR does. But the little LCD screens do not give the quality of a real optical viewfinder, and as such I do not think you will see them soon on a DSLR. Cameras like the Canon S2/S3, Pany F30/50 and such have EVFs.
The Canon EOS 5D can be fittet with 3 different focus screens from Canon. That will give you what your K1000 did (and my Nikon Nikkormat FTn). There are also 3rd party focus screens to be found if you search hard enough, for different DSLRs. But these screens do inhibit AF performance, so these 3rd party products are not ideal for everyone.
EVFs mimic the optical viewfinders of (D)SLRs. They show what you would see through the lens, just like the optical viewfinder of a DSLR does. But the little LCD screens do not give the quality of a real optical viewfinder, and as such I do not think you will see them soon on a DSLR. Cameras like the Canon S2/S3, Pany F30/50 and such have EVFs.
The Canon EOS 5D can be fittet with 3 different focus screens from Canon. That will give you what your K1000 did (and my Nikon Nikkormat FTn). There are also 3rd party focus screens to be found if you search hard enough, for different DSLRs. But these screens do inhibit AF performance, so these 3rd party products are not ideal for everyone.
I was going to bring up that little powerhorse of a P&S. I did quite a bit of online research on the S3 IS and a ton of people will opt for it over super sleek P&Ss or even actual digital video cameras because the video is really quite impressive on this camera.
Sorry for ignorance, thus digital SLR can take movie clip just like digi cam? thanks in advance!
No. Buy definition "SLR" means the light from the lens goes through an optical viewfinder. It's not a technical issue. The whole point of an SLRis that you look directly through the lens
... and the DSLR was able to both buffer sufficient images, and write them out to the card(s) at a sufficiently high rate ...
The only way all of the above could happen would be if the DSLR in question supported writing to multiple memory cards simultaneously: a single memory card wouldn't be able to keep up with the writing. Then you'd have to re-arrange the images on the computer, and merge them into an MPEG stream (not particulary difficult - films are digitally created in just that way) ... all in all, the amount of effort required, especially from the camera manufacturer, would drive the cost of the DSLR up into insane territory.
The high quality videos in Canon's S line goes back to the S1 IS, which I own. My dad's S2 IS will do video just as well. They are really, really good.
Not at all! I'd rather carry 2 pro cameras than a single P&S. If you wan't, I'd happily trade your 2 cameras for my S1 IS, so you won't feel jealous
failsafe1 said:
Not at all! I'd rather carry 2 pro cameras than a single P&S. If you wan't, I'd happily trade your 2 cameras for my S1 IS, so you won't feel jealous
I am not saying it could be done now. Memory and DSPs will get faster. The main problem is the mechanical part, including the energy it consumes.
Maybe it will be easier with some continuous sensing technology and some display that can rival an optical viewfinder, perhaps a retinal scribing device.
So they will really be just ultra hi def camcorders with good still capability.
Maybe it will be easier with some continuous sensing technology and some display that can rival an optical viewfinder, perhaps a retinal scribing device.
So they will really be just ultra hi def camcorders with good still capability.
Most all the current Canons have great quality video. I only wish they used MPEG4 compression instead of motion JPEG to save a bit on space.
Sorry I'm a bit late into this, but I just wanted to give my vote to devilot's comment here, also as an answer to Clix. When I bought an S2 IS about 2 years ago, the salesman worked hard to sell me on the video feature. I sighed and told him I had a video camera, I was in the market for a still camera. He insisted I would see what he meant after using it. He was right. Most cases where I want a video clip are only short, maybe a couple minutes at the most. I don't carry my video camera around with me, but I did carry the S2 most of the time. The quality of the clips is quite good, and I've gotten some great memories that way. I more or less stopped using my video camera.
Now I have a DSLR, and hardly ever take the S2 with me. Although I love my DSLR, it's unfortunate, I really miss that function sometimes. I think it boils down to what you need the videos for; if you want to take longer clips and know you will have your camcorder with you, then Clix is right - that's the best solution. For short, unplanned clips, a P & S with video function is perfect.
One of the old EOS bodies had a prism instead of a mirror (EOS1N?,) so technically it's not so much a technical issue as it is a practicality issue.
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