I'll give my observations of the HD video capabilities of this camera; I wouldn't consider this a full review. I just wanted to test the limits of the camera in terms of battery life and recording time.
Procedure: I tested two times with a full charge and an empty 16GB card. I just put the camera on record and sat it on my desk.
Canon estimated that my 16GB card was good for around 85 minutes of video. It was pretty darn close. Note that this is an estimate and will vary due to the variable bit rate. I found that a 16GB memory card is the perfect match for the battery life.
Each video clip has a file size limit of 4GB due to the FAT32 limitations of current SD cards. There is also a 30 minute cap in recording time for each HD clip, although you will probably deal with the 4GB cap more often. There is an on-screen warning that the movie is getting close to either one.
The battery outlasted my memory card, but not by much. I recorded around 88 minutes of video and used up the entire card (15GB). The battery still had some life left so I popped in my spare 4GB card and the battery finally died around 2 minutes later. The average running time of the videos that reached the 4GB file size limit was around 22-24 minutes. A spare battery is recommended if you have a larger memory card and want to use this solely for video.
I hope you found this information helpful.
Tidbits:
- You can't use optical zoom while recording, only digital zoom. This is basically the only thing you can adjust once you begin filming.
- Focus is set when you start recording and does not change until you stop and start again. You can preview focus with a half-press prior to recording.
- You can use one of the three focus modes (macro, normal, infinity) for filming.
- Image Stability does work on video recording.
- The audio for recording is Mono. I don't see this as an issue. The sound quality is good, even if it is only one channel.
Get more detail about Canon PowerShot SD780IS12.1 MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.5-inch LCD (Black).
No comments:
Post a Comment