New digital still cameras raising the bar on video
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By Jefferson Graham
USA Today
Aron Digumarthi uses his digital camera every weekend to shoot still photographs — and videos. He doesn't mind that the video clips aren't as good as a camcorder's. His camera is small enough to tote along on weekend hikes. "Having this one little package of technology with me that can do both photos and videos is just what I need," says Digumarthi, 34, an attorney in San Jose, Calif.
Just a year ago, most digital camera video clips were silent, jerky and limited to 30 seconds or less.
But now many newer models offer smoother, sharper videos that are limited in length only by the size of the external memory card.
Digumarthi uses the Canon PowerShot S1 IS, a new $499 camera sold as a hybrid camera-camcorder. Olympus also sells a hybrid — the $599 C-770. Sony has upgraded all its Cybershot cameras to shoot at the same frame rate as camcorders — 30 per second.
Daniel Grotta, who is writing PC Magazine's Guide to Digital Photography with wife Sally, credits digital camera improvements — higher image quality and faster processors — for improved video, too.
Surprising results
"People are very surprised at just how good it is now," says Paul Schmidt, CEO of digital photo software company Photodex. "The pros will tell you it's terrible and can't compare to camcorder footage. But most people don't care. They're just delighted to have and use it."
About 69 million digital cameras are expected to be sold this year — up 40 percent from 2003, says IDC research analyst Chris Chute. That's higher than his earlier projected growth because sales in the first quarter soared 64 percent from the year-ago quarter.
Still, despite their popularity, digital cameras that shoot still and video have limitations compared with camcorders:
Storage. Digital cameras store images on small memory cards instead of film. To get the most video on a card, users need a 1-gigabyte memory card, which costs $200 to $300. Cards are reusable. Images get transferred to a PC with a hefty hard drive.
By contrast, most camcorders use MiniDV tape. A 60-minute cassette costs about $5.
Sound. Cameras record in mono on tiny, built-in microphones with lower quality than camcorders. Camcorders shoot in stereo.
Zoom. Most digital cameras can't zoom in and out while shooting video. Camcorders can.
"If you're going to concentrate on video, a camcorder is the wiser choice," says Chuck Westfall, technical information director for Canon USA. "We're just offering consumers the option."
The most popular digital cameras still shoot at a speed of 15 frames per second and a resolution of 320-by-240 pixels. That is slightly more jerky than some of the newer models that capture video at a resolution of 640-by-480 pixels at 30 frames per second. DVD quality is 720-by-480 pixels at 30 frames per second.
Next year, Chute predicts, "manufacturers will try to go beyond that, with even better video quality and zoom functionality. Everyone will be doing that."
Waiting in the wings: video on camera phones.
"Transmitting video clips by phone will be another way for subscribers to purchase add-on services," says Ross Rubin, an analyst at market tracker NPD Group.
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There are no free online sites strictly for video sharing in the way Ofoto and Shutterfly let you share stills. So how do you share or edit a video?
Several Web sites will host videos, often for a fee.
Apple's .Mac charges $99 annually for 100 megabytes of storage space. You must be a Macintosh user. But anyone can watch for free. Sony's ImageStation offers free storage, but users must spend minutes downloading video files to their computer's hard drive before they can watch them.
Photo site Smugmug.com charges $49.95 to store small clips. Users also have to download them. Xdrive offers 500MB of video sharing for $99 yearly.
Editing. Videos can easily be recorded onto CDs that play on most DVD players — even if you don't have a DVD burner. These come in the form of what are called VCDs, for Video CDs.
Many programs won't let you mix photos and video. But two programs do that with background music and titles. Roxio's DVD Builder software, part of its popular Easy Media Creator 7 sells for $79.95. Photodex's ProShow Gold is $69.95. ProShow also lets users share their finished work on the Web for free.
