David Jones wrote:
>> o all the meters, and yet my sound was a little overmodulated.
>>
>
> Shouldn't be a problem for me.
> So the Zi8 has VU meters?, that's awesome, I was going to check for
> that feature.
>
It's a rare feature among this grade of cameras, but I didn't get very
reliable results when I used them. I come from the pro video world, and
sometimes gear likes this tries to invent their own standard for how to
do things. There's a much more comprehensive manual online than in the
box that I should consult.
>> One of the things that really gets me with all these pocket cams is that
>> there is no headphone jack so you can hear what the camera is getting on
>> its mic jack. I used to tell my students, "you wouldn't shoot withouth
>> looking through the viewfinder, why record audio without monitoring it?"
>>
>
> I only use the VU meter at present with my external mic, and find no
> need to use headphones at all.
>
I'll accept what you're saying, and I guess because often videoblogging
is just a single talking head looking into a camera, that can work. It
just gives me the heebie-jeebies. There are chances for weird electric
hum to get in as well as external noise that you don't notice until
you're done shooting. Again, that's just my thing. This is where film
school has made me persnickety about these sorts of things. I need to
learn to just let go. ;)
>> Not really. Your DV cam is 720 x 480
>>
>
> Yeah, but it ultimately gets downsampled to 640x480 (4:3) for
> uploading to Youtube.
>
DV compression is much milder than MP4, so it would be far better for
your ultimate video quality to capture and edit in DV, and only as a
last step render out an MP4. The actual pixel count is only part of the
equation, of course.
That's my beef with these cameras all shooting MP4. First generation
played out of the camera looks awesome, but if you're going to edit,
that's another compression pass, and then ultimately whatever the video
streaming site uses is a third. I'ev shot in HD and had it end up
looking like crummy VHS. That's why whenever I can, I shoot in some
higher bandwidth format and then use MP4 strictly as a distribution format.
> I know the Zi8 is going to be far from perfect, but my problem is
> really don't see any other option around this price point (say
> <$AU300) for a cam of any type with SD card and external mic support.
Those two features are really compelling, I must admit. I got one
hoping that the ease of it would encourage me to do more video content
for my site without the laborious method I've been using slowing me
down. My content is rather static as well, so I just need to find away
to get the quality where I think it should be, and I'll be a happy guy.
Finding a way to make the mic input work the way it should would be
another plus. ;)
I love that the camera uses swappable cards, and the macro mode is a
real welcome feature for product reviews. I guess the main change I
would want (and this is just personal preference) is if it used regular
batteries rather than a proprietary power pack. The cards are so
voluminous now, I run out of juice way before I run out of shooting
space. It would be nice to be able to swap out a couple rechargeables
when thins get dim.
Nice camera overall, for sure.
--
--
Bohus Blahut
(BOH-hoosh BLAH-hoot)
modern filmmaker
