Looking for nice camera with quality video please

[Jazzer The Cat]

I thank you for peping the one of 1,359 "what camera should I buy?" threads and hope for continuation of great input so far found on my Hello all introduction thread

I currently have a Casio-Exilim-EX-Z1000 for a couple years now. Since its purchase, I have found a new hobby and hope to find a better camera for my needs. I have gotten into autoX and would like to find a camera for pictures, but will make nice quality video. I want to mount the camera the inside of my windshield to capture my runs:


I REALLY like the Canon Powershot SX10IS, but believe it too heavy for my needs. PLEASE CORRECT ME IF I AM WRONG, as this camera appears to be a good choice for me I have found what I believe to be a good choice for me and is the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5K. . The one drawback I know of is the mounting hole is on the far side of the camera and think this may pose an imbalance and "shake" while driving.

This is a VERY aggressive stomp-on-gas/stomp-on-brake obsticle course between pylons. I was hoping that I may use ***THIS*** mount to hold the camera while driving:


Again, open to options if anyone knows/has experience with a better quick mount for this purpose :idea:

My needs are as follows:
1. small and light-weight so is supported well by camera mount on inside of window
2. High-quality video as pics are somewhat secondary
3. Not opposed to a video only unit if will be supported by above mount, but camera combo would be best
4. Would be VERY nice to zoom in on other participants in these events and achieve quality vid (unlike current Casio-Exilim-EX-Z1000)

Budget would like to be around $250~$300, but would go higher if high marks in "needs" catagory

Thanks in advance and looking forward to some good input from my photo-genic pepes

Eric

OH, I almost forgot. I see some cameras with HD 1280 x 720 video output and wonder on quality. I figure that with write speed and memory issues, would it be able to keep up with my runs chiming in around 1 minute or so. Is HD a practicle platform for my needs, thanks :thumbsup:

[SmartWombat]

HD should do fine, but the audio will be terrible from my experience.

You will need fast memory cards.
Not just fast in bursts like you need for stills.
But fast sustained speed, and that's a very different thing.
I have some cards that are fine for stills, even with RAW images, but in my wife's Everio video camera it doesn't record smooth video.

So look for one that matches the video camera.
I discovered I should have bought class 6 memory cards.
So now I have 3 more cards for my digital camera
And need to go shopping for some cards for Angie to take videos.

I would expect a video only system would be better than a still camera with video.

I use Culmann mounts that are a little simpler than yours, and with a small ball-head do well for in-car video. I also have clamps for on-car video mount so I get the track as well.
I use an old Minolta A1 and Konica-Minolta A2 as sacrificial cameras, but plan to borrow my wife's Everio (small enough to fit in a pocket) to try next time and put the A1/A2 back on stills.

[Jazzer The Cat]

I had never thought of audio, but would probably need *cough* *cough*.... "editing" of explatives when I hit a cone(s), so maybe I will just turn the audio off

So the memory is REALLY a storage card issue and NOT so much a camera issue? If this is correct, that is good to know and will seek not only a good camera, but fast sustained writing memory cards in a class 6 or higher? :thumbsup:

I will also check out the Culmann mount and see how she looks, Thanks.

Eric

PS. My cat (Jazzer) is also a Tortie and likes to Meow me awake at 3:30 am

[SmartWombat]

The memory card class depends on the camera, our HD camera needs class 6.
Make it part of the checks you do when you look at the camera - what speed card does it need and can I buy any ?
No point getting a new camera if they can't sell you memory cards to work with it

I would avoid hard disk cameras like the plague, they aren't robust and it's easy to damage the hardware. If it's totally solid state and has a few gigabytes of SSD memory instead of a hard disk then that may work well for you, but those cameras are much more expensive than memoryless ones where you just slip in a SD card.

Tess now has her own website: http://smartwombat.myphotos.cc/gallery/Tess

[Jazzer The Cat]

More good info

Now I know how n00bies feel when they come into Mustang Forums for questions on suspension upgrades :frown2: They have NO IDEA what a big issue they are about to tackle. This is not too bad so far, just glad I came in here to get the scoobie on things

As I am more into the video performance, I will be sure to follow up on your info to make sure I am not disappointed when my choice is made. It makes sense as I have lots fundamental knowledge on computers and understand the read/write thing to a good degree.

So I need to find a camera with capability of large SD car (my Casio has a 1g, I think) as well as ability to utilize a fast writing one.

Eric

Below is a pic of The Jazzer. She does not yet have her OWN website, but her name is synonymous with silly scarcasm and odd-ball humor-infused posts by yours truly (not sure if that is flattering or not )

[Jazzer The Cat]

I have made my final decision (unless someone says "that sucks, get xxx one for same price")

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5K

This seems to have what I am looking to find for the price range I am after. I would, however, like some input as to a comparable model that may be better for following needs:

1. VERY good to excellent video is priority, but must be compact dig camera.
2. Good zoom capability WHILE shooting video
3. wide angle lens for close-up pics with lots of stuff in it

Compared to:

Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 (was a bit pricy for budget and found comparison review to TZ5 by an owner of both and passed on it)

Canon PowerShot SX200-IS (cannot zoom while shooting video)

Any and all input/thoughts will be welcome

Eric