Powershot SD Camera recommendations?

emopaul

4

« on: 05 / July / 2009, 15:35:05 »

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Hi, I'm very new to this forum and looking for advice. Not sure where the best place is to post, so if this is better somewhere else, let me know and I'll move it.

First off, thank you everyone for making so many new creative possibilities available from these little cameras. It's quite amazing!

I'm a filmmaker living in the SF Bay Area, have used the CHDK mod on my Canon 750 for about 4 months and love it. I primarily use it to make timelapse movies and add RAW capabilities to the otherwise boring little point and shoot.

Here's some example timelapses:

Recently my screen broke and I'm looking for a replacement and considering the 780IS (primarily for the 720P video and Digic4 chip and small size and cost). It looks like it may be a way off from being hacked however. Does anyone have any suggestions on the most interesting little Powershot to get right now that is hacked? If one is close to being hacked that is the current top Canon tech, I'm happy to wait a few months. I'm hoping not to spend more than $300, but would if the right camera presented itself. I'm mostly interested in life documentation and making timelapse moves, short videos capturing moments....

Image stabilization and capturing great images in low light, having a decent lens is more important than megapixels...
I have access to a DSLR for "real photography" (irony intended).

The considerations might be boiled down as the following:

- best lens
- best sensor
- best CHDK hacks
- Powershot always in pocket form factor

Thank you in advance for any insights.

Paul Lundahl
creative director
eMotion studios

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reyalp

14120

Re: Powershot SD Camera recommendations?

« Reply #1 on: 05 / July / 2009, 17:59:04 »

At the moment, the only CHDK supported camera that does high res video is SX1 AFAIK.

Several of the newer IXUS/SD cameras do support 1280x720x30fps, but none of them are ported yet. In fact, these are also cameras that the current udumper does not work on. Progress has been made on dumping, but as yet porting hasn't started on any of them. For a port to happen, an experienced developer has to have the camera.

Lens and sensor will be compromised in any of these pocket cams. Look at photo review site such as http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/ for sample shots.

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Don't forget what the H stands for.

emopaul

4

Re: Powershot SD Camera recommendations?

« Reply #2 on: 06 / July / 2009, 08:29:15 »

Thank you for the feedback. The SX1 AFAIK looks great, but a bit large and pricey for my budget right now. I love the form factor of the IXUS/SD cameras that can always be in your pocket, available for use. Of the more recent and currently ported IXUS/SD cameras, what are the best in terms of lens and low light capability?

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hunter99

16

Re: Powershot SD Camera recommendations?

« Reply #3 on: 14 / July / 2009, 22:20:23 »

Just saw this post.

No longer made, but may still be found
Canon PowerShot TX1
page 41 of manual:

Also the format is MJPG (= large file size)
But the camera will play back to a HDTV.
Low light is not that great.

Recording Pixels and Frame Rates
Frame rates indicate the number of frames recorded or
played back each second. The higher the frame rate, the
smoother the appearance of motion.
When the Aspect Ratio is [4:3]
If you use a super high-speed memory card (recommended
memory card: SDC-512MSH), you can shoot until the
memory card is full. You can also use the digital zoom while
shooting (p. 32).
*1 640 x 480 pixels, 30 frames/sec.
*2 640 x 480 pixels, 30 frames/sec., LP
320 x 240 pixels, 60 frames/sec.
320 x 240 pixels, 30 frames/sec.
When the Aspect Ratio is [16:9]
It is possible to play back images on an HDTV at their
original aspect ratio. (It is recommended that you use a
super high-speed memory card with a transfer rate of
20 MB/s or more.)
*1 1280 x 720 pixels, 30 frames/sec.
*2 1280 x 720 pixels, 30 frames/sec., LP

*1 Default setting
*2 If you would like to place a priority on shooting time rather than
image quality, select an icon with LP (Long Play) appearing on it.
You will be able to approximately double the shooting time with
the same file capacity.

Good luck, George

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