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M$2 April 18, 2009 09:46 PM

I'm looking for a digital point and shoot camera that shoots HD video. Any recommendations?

I looked at the Kodak M1093is and liked it but would like something with more optical zoom. Also some of the reviews were less than stellar. Something in the same class as the M1093is is what I'm looking for. Thanks.
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April 19, 2009 11:58 AM
Most point and shoots these days will shoot HD video. I can't tell you a specific model to buy...there are always new models coming out, and prices changing, but here are my guidelines/suggestions for things to consider that will help you pick out a camera. It sounds like you may already know some of these things..

First step: Decide on a price range. It's hard to suggest models out of hundreds when we don't know how much you wish or can afford to spend. If price is not an issue, then the field is wide open.

If I were to use the M1093i as a jumping off point, I might look at other Kodak models first..

Looking at the M series, there is the M380 that has 5x optical zoom and a slightly better resolution, but it doesn't have the optical image stabilization.
http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=14244&pq-locale=en_US

Looking at the Z series, they have the highest optical zoom of the kodak lines...
http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=9/11920/131&pq-locale=en_US

Stay away from the Z8612IS and all those constructed like it, a model I found in-store was... falling apart and showed it's extremely poor design.

The Z1085, 1285, and 1485 are the most similar to the one you chose -- being pocketable although a bit bigger. (I personally recently got a z1085 IS)
These have 5x optical zoom, and the 1085 and the 1485 have optical image stabilization.

The others in this line have between 10 and 24x optical zoom, as you can see on the page referenced above; there are several models to choose from so I will not list them all here. The Z series also uses the AA size or CR-V3 batteries which I personally view as a plus.

Those mentioned above are your current choices for Kodak brand models with higher optical zoom than your choice.

General rules of thumb for picking a camera.
1) Stick with a well-known name brand. The no-name brands that you may have never heard of tend to put out cheap cameras that often times have very poor optics.

2) digital zoom means nothing. what matters is optical zoom. ignore digital zoom numbers when making your final choice. (Clearly you already know this one.)

3) Look for as high a resolution as you can get for your price point. The images will look better over the long term (think very long term) when you can get the best camera/resolution/quality you can afford.

4) Do you already have any flash memory from other devices or a previous camera? SD? CF? xD? Memory Stick? You _might_ wish to stick to a format that you already have and/or is interchangable with your PDA, etc.
Remember, whatever camera you get you will probably want or _need_ to buy an additional memory card. Note: these things go on sale pretty frequently (at least the CF and SD formats) so you should be able to get expansion cards fairly inexpensively.

5) Is size important to you? Do you want to be able to stick it in a very tight/tiny pants pocket? Your shirt pocket? Or is your jacket pocket or purse okay?

6) Batteries. Many cameras (especially the small/compact ones) use nonstandard battery shapes. Often times these batteries are expensive and only available as rechargables. In such cases you need to have an extra battery or two on you all the time already charged to have as a back-up. The newer and custom batteries tend to be expensive.

Personally I try to stick with a camera that can take AA size batteries, because I know that AA batteries are available everywhere. With AA batteries you may still have to buy more expensive lithium batteries for your camera to have enough power to take more than a couple of shots, but at least you know you can find them all over the place. There is a new format, the CR-V3 that is basically two AA lithiums together in one package. This is a good page about the CR-V3 format: http://www.steves-digicams.com/2003_reviews/rcrv3.html

7) look at how the cameras are constructed. if the store model is broken in store, that typically means it's not a good design. just because one of a line is broken in store does not mean all that brand's cameras are bad, it may just be a bad design for that model.

Then once you figure out your opinions or needs on a few key things: size, battery type, flash memory type, and possibly the amount of zoom you are looking for, that should be able to help you get the number of options available to you whittled down to just a few choices to pick from... and then you can go from there.. comparing price, feel (that is -- how it feels in your hand, if you feel comfortable holding it/taking pictures), build quality (does it feel solid and well built? does it feel more durable than your other choices? do you think the battery or flash memory compartment hinge is going to break easily? etc. etc.) , aesthetics (does it matter to you if it's black, or grey, or pink, etc.?) ...

If the kodak models listed above do not fit your needs, or if you wish to compare and contrast with other brands, I would suggest just going to a few select brands websites and skimming their models.


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Helpful: williamwaco, robbrown

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April 19, 2009 10:49 PM - New Source
This is a good answer.

About the only thing that I could possibly think to add would be to keep in mind that currently all point and shoot camera / video cameras don't handle exposure or white balance very well.

If you plan on taking controlled closeup video of products or people, this won't be a problem. However, if you're looking for a general purpose or video camera that does well with senerey (at all), you'll want to look into Digital Video SLR's such as the Nikon D90 or standalone 3CCD hand held independent video cameras.

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April 18, 2009 10:17 PM
My best bet would be to get a flip mino HD, it's cheap and does a good job!
And you can find it almost anywhere, and certainly on amazon!

Hope it helps!

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Helpful: skyvan

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April 19, 2009 12:41 AM
Look into the Panasonic LUMIX cameras
The one I'm specifically linking to hasn't come out yet but previous models have similar functionality.
http://www.panasonic.net/avc/lumix/compact/zs3_tz7/index.html

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Helpful: williamwaco

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April 19, 2009 04:54 AM
I do not know of a point-n-shoot camera that can produce the desired HD video.

The Canon 5D Mark II can probably do this if equipped with the proper lens, but it is probably not what the OP is looking for.
Source(s):
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-7593_102-0.html?messageID=2990427


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April 19, 2009 08:32 PM
I use the Sanyo VPC-HD100. Inexpensive, takes great video, and you can take it anywhere. It has 5x zoom which is better than the Kodak but I'm not sure how much you're looking for.

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