Digital Camera Choices

Well previously I'd been looking at the Sony Cybershot (W7 or W5) for the new digital camera. But I have to say I was disappointed with it, once I found out it doesn't allow zooming of the image while your taking a digital movie.

Infact, I found that most digital camera that support a movie mode don't allow you to zoom during movie mode. Presumably the quality of their video compression algorithms is so lame that they can't process the inter-frame video changes that occur with a zoom.

That said, I've tracked down a couple of camera that do support full feature movie mode (640x480, 30fps, zoom, audio). Current favorite is the Casio EX-P505. This has the downside that it doesn't currently have any kind of waterproof housing, so I won't be able to use if whilst diving in Florida next month.

Couple of others in the running are;

1. Sony Cybershot DSCM1, which has similar spec to the Casio, but the advantages of (i) smaller size, (ii) stereo audio record and (iii) slightly cheaper. On the downside it (i) uses that stupid Sony proprietary Memory Stick format for storing the pix and (ii) only has 3x zoom compared to the Casio's 5x.


2. Konica Minolta Z5, which has a very similar look to the Casio and I think better zoom. Unfortunately the test images I took with it (in Frys) were not very sharp. The reviews I've read for the Konica-Minolta line don't give them very good marks on colo(u)r reproduction either. Shame, as I thought this was sexy and techie looking. As with the Casio, this camera is lacking an underwater casing.