[C.J. Moof]

I've had an opportunity to play with the video mode of the Canon S1, and it's quite impressive. Enough so that I'd consider a digital still camera with a top end video mode as a replacement for my dissapointing and rarely used DV camera.

Is 640x480 @ 30fps the highest quality video resolution out there these days? Does anyone know about a higher quality video mode on the horizon anytime soon?

[k_munic]

640x480 needs a conversion into dv specs for working with tools as iMovie, just to mention that, and any conversion means loss of quality. most of this video-wannabes use mpeg2 as codec, a very lossy format if it goes to edit. and mostly they use .avi containers...

look for the mpeg2 playback component at Apple 20$ and Streamclip fro free...

[C.J. Moof]

Actually, I'm pretty certain that with iMovie HD, anything not in a native DV format gets converted to Apple Intermediate Codec, not DV. I've brought a movie shot with an S1 into iMovie HD, edited it, and put it out to iDVD with acceptable results. You can edit wit Streamclip, but it's not going to do titles, fades, ect.

I'm not interested in making feature movies- I'm the "dad with a camcorder" demographic. Except that a good quality video mode on a still camera just might fit me better than a camcorder. Not even his grandparents need more than a few minutes of my son being cute.....

[k_munic]

Originally Posted by C.J. Moof

Actually, I'm pretty certain that with iMovie HD, anything not in a native DV format gets converted to Apple Intermediate Codec, not DV. ...

You can edit wit Streamclip, but it's not going to do titles, fades, ect.

I'm not interested in making feature movies- I'm the "dad with a camcorder" demographic.

.....

iMHD doesn't convert "anything" (e.g.mpeg1 video loss audio, it doesn't do some rare .avi codecs as .asf... both also used on some still-cams) ... it just accepts firewire connected mini-dv camcorders... Sony made the "trick", to store the very high data of HC onto mini-dv cassettes as mepg2, and to allow iM using the usual fw-commands to remote control that camcorder, in return, Apple implemented that automatic dv-with-mpeg2>>Apple Intermediate Codec conversion

Streamclip is a CONVERTER, not an edit app, the very basic "editing" features" are more meant to export just parts of a longer video, as an example....
PAL/NTSC have higher resolutions then these still-pic-videos...- you're doing a "blow-up"... that's lossy. The AICodec is needed, because mpeg doesn't store every frame of a video, what is urgently needed for edititng purposes....

and:
I'm a "father-doing-baby-documentaries" too...- you expectations to your movies will VERY soon grew endless... I started with iM2, now it is FinalCutExperess+Photoshop+…

[C.J. Moof]

Originally Posted by k_munic

iMHD doesn't convert "anything" (e.g.mpeg1 video loss audio, it doesn't do some rare .avi codecs as .asf... both also used on some still-cams) ... it just accepts firewire connected mini-dv camcorders... Sony made the "trick", to store the very high data of HC onto mini-dv cassettes as mepg2, and to allow iM using the usual fw-commands to remote control that camcorder, in return, Apple implemented that automatic dv-with-mpeg2>>Apple Intermediate Codec conversion

Well, right, my selection would be limited to cameras that don't record in muxed mpeg1 or odd .asf formats... I can live with that. Other than those, if it plays in Quicktime, it can be brought into iMovie HD.

I still haven't found a digital still camera that does > 640x480 tho... anyone?

[k_munic]

[QUOTE=C.J. ... if it plays in Quicktime, it can be brought into iMovie HD. ...[/QUOTE]

<wiseguy mode on>
mpeg1 or mpeg2 (or mpeg4 some stillcams use) are both playable with QT but can NOT be imported (easy) into iMovie... any mpeg is muxxed (=no sperated audio and video >> no edit) and meant for playback only (just delta compression=no single frames) so, before using such formats, they have to be converted every time by another tool... as Streamclip which is free and very convenient...

<wiseguy mode off>

besides:
if you find any stillcam with a higher res then (x)vga, please post here!... I know some others who are interest in such...