Camera Labs

I'm looking for a new digital camera for making music videos so I'll need a good close-up focus (for getting close to the guitar fretboard for example) and minimum grain in darkness.

I've managed to narrow it down to these two: Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ100 and Fujifilm Finepix HS10:

http://snapsort.com/...jifilm_FinePi...MC-FZ100/specs

In terms of handling darkness, the Fujifilm seems better because of its larger pixels, correct? However, the Panasonic has a higher native resolution.

A few videos from both cameras, day and night, close-up and distant (don't forget to change to 1080p on Youtube):

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ100:
Day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5CJTZRaJek
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3yZTCc0SL8
Night: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vydKHh5AuU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mStBAiL25lg
Fujifilm Finepix HS10:
Day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5tzfbhn6B0 (close-up)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DahsKfK6_Eo
Night: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DNwUB2RLRg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fBVik7LIhQ

So which one is the best for videos? The reason I'm not considering camcorders is because they never have high-speed, which will be very useful for me as I'm going to make music videos.

Thanks in advance!

Mjolnir - I've had a Fuji HS10 for almost a year, and have been active in following the Fuji forums about this camera.

While, so long as you stick to the Priorities Modes and Manual, it's a pretty good bridge camera for stills - and fast Continuous at up to 12fps, and is also good for a P&S in low-light / high-ISO situations - it is not at all a device you'd buy for doing anything other than very casual hobby video.

I cannot describe the HS10's user or manual Video Control functions, as it doesn't have any....

There are no Video Manual Focus or Brightness adjustments. There is no "Video" mode on the Modes Dial. Resolution - 1920 x 1080 / 1280 x 720 / 640 x 480 - is Menu-select only.

There is no "shutter button" Video Start-Stop. The Video is both Started and Stopped via the Red Video button on the back of the camera. This means that unless on a tripod - the camera has to be re-positioned to start and stop Video. When starting to Video - there is a delay of several seconds after pressing the button before the Video-ing begins.

While in theory the barrel-type twist-zoom suggests good and variable rates Zooming while Video-ing - in actual use, that's just a wild dream... While quite excellent for stills - very fast and accurate zoom and "frame-fill" adjustment - for video ANY smooth adjustment isn't possible.

The "start" of rotation of the zoom-control "jerks" - and any attempts at movement while Video-ing "jerk" at start and stop of rotation movement. Also - in any zoom-change - the Focus is "leisurely" to catch-up - and the focus-function is very audible in the Video-audio. Fuji should call the Video Zoom - "Jerk-O-Matic"....

The "best" Video with the HS10 is at any position of Zoom - then left there... Use the Shutter button to "pre-focus" in stills mode. Then press the Red Video button. Pre-focusing seems to reduce the "delay" before the Video-ing actually starts.

Don't "aim" from a light-to-darker area - as there's no Brightness compensation - in camera or manual - after Video-ing starts - the resulting clip will "dim-out" going one way - or "flare-out" while going from dimmer to brighter areas of aim.

Note that the Std - 1280 x 720 - Video is noticeably better quality than the HD - 1920 x 1080. While the supposed number of pixels per frame more than doubles between those - there's not a lot of difference in file-sizes per-minute...

If I'm just doing short clips - a minute or so - I use the HS10's 1280 by 720. If I want to do "videos" - I just use the H264/MOV 640 x 480 in my Canon SX10... That has the 2-speed power zoom the HS10 doesn't - and the Manual Focus and Manual Brightness the HS10 doesn't.

As for the HS10's High-Speed Video - yes, that works. The 120fps 640 x 480 that plays back at quarter-speed is quite usable. The HS Video has a 30-second limit, and there's no Audio with it...

I suspect that Music Videos work better with Audio.

A Canon SX30's very good, if only Std HD - Video functions - makes the HS10's Video "abilities" look as if they came from Noah's Ark - with apologies to the good Noah...!

I haven't used the FZ100 Panny - but if you're "only" choosing between that and the HS10 - if the FZ100 can "beat" the older Non-HD Canon SX10 - it's waaaay ahead of Fuji's HS10 for Video....

I love my HS10 - now I know to avoid Auto, Program - and Video - Modes....!

Thanks for a very thorough reply! You made my life a lot easier, with the HS10 taken out of consideration. The video feature of the HS10 seems a bit impractical. I'll check out the SX30 as well.

why do you want still camera if your primary target is video?

get normal camera, like canon hv40 or something...

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I'm new to DSLR's, so please be patient and take my opinions with reserve. Thank you : ) Yes, i am Canon man.
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I've been checking out some camcorders, but from the looks of it, the quality I get from a camcorder is **** compared to what I get from a entry DLSR/digicam at the same price. To get decent quality, the minimum is 500 USD, when I can get the same quality for 300 USD when getting a entry DLSR/digicam.

You may want to take a look at the Canon 600D/Rebel T3i, it's really one of the best DSLRs for video. It has an articulated display and image quality that will blow any superzoom out of the water, and most camcorders as well. You also get a fair bit of manual controls, and a variety of lenses to choose from. There's also the D5100 from Nikon, which performs a bit better in low light and over all has a slight edge in image quality, but the video mode lacks some of the controls of the Canon.

_________________
-Evan

Gear: 7 Nikon Nikkor AI-S and AF-S lenses, SB-700 flash, Nikon D7000, Nikon FM, variety of accessories

"There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs."
- Ansel Adams

I checked some test videos on Youtube and I believe you're right, the 600D's amazing! The picture is sharp even on details far away. But it's still almost twice as expensive as the FZ100 for example, so I'll look if I can find it used.