A Tip Or Two About Movies On Your Digital Camera

Dumb Camera:

A man was driving when he saw the flash of a traffic camera. He figured that his picture had been taken for exceeding the speed limit, even though he knew that he was not speeding.

Just to be sure, he went around the block and passed the same spot, driving even more slowly, but again the camera flashed.  Now he began to think that this was quite funny, so he drove even slower as he passed the area again, but the traffic camera again flashed.  He tried a fourth time with the same result. He did this a fifth time and was now laughing when the camera flashed as he rolled past, this time at a snail’s pace…

Two weeks later, he got five tickets in the mail for driving without a seat belt…
 

A cruising friend of mine emailed me today and asked if I knew anything about movies on a digital camera as they were planning an Alaska trip soon. She had seen the movie I made about a bear on the side of the road while driving north of Skagway on the way back from the Canadian Yukon on my Alaska cruise last June.

I looked up my Alaska trip files and I found that the 'bear' movie used 8.9 mb. and ran for 1 minute and 10 seconds. This was with the camera set at 30 fps (frames per second) At 30 fps, the picture appears smooth, like a TV picture. You can set the camera for 10 fps which will use 1/3 the memory, but the picture will be more jerky.

Considering that my 6 mega pixel camera uses about 0.26 mb per picture, this movie used up the space of about 36 pictures. In other words at 6 mega pixels I get about 4 full resolution pictures per megabyte.

If you have a 2 gig chip, it will hold  about 650 pictures or 18 minutes of movies at 30 fps.

I don’t know about you, but I take over two thousand pictures on a trip so I travel with 4 to 6 x 2 gig. chips. I used to download them to my tablet computer, but now with the price of a 2 gig chip down to $10 -$15 it might be easier not to bother with the tablet. Get a few chips, they don't weigh anything or take up hardly any room in your luggage. Back them up on your computer as soon as you get home.  Start a new file, titled and dated for the trip. If you don't, you'll never remember what you have. I've included a screen shot of what my Alaska trip file looks like.

Practice using the movie feature on your digital camera. You never know when you are going to get that ‘once in a lifetime’ shot and sometimes a movie tells it best.

Here's my 'Bear' movie. Not professional but definitely shows the bear! 
Panasonic DMC-FX9 6 mp Camera





I still need the camera because it is the only reason anyone is talking to me.
Annie Leibovitz