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Group: Members
Posts: 1256
Member No.: 20008
Joined: 12-October 06
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I just recently bought one of those cheap $20.00 Jazz video cameras from a local BigLots. The DVX40 palm version in black. I got it for fun really and because it would be a break away from using the Flip UltraHD.
With standard definition; even though it might not look as good as a Flip I would like to have fun for once with video and not have to deal with the hassles and troubles of working with beefy files and technical issues and of the time concerns attached to the process of even putting together a 10 minute file together too.
Someday if I ever win Mass Cash I can build a good system. Actually I am not a betting person. I was told in high school electronics class by a teacher: "Never make a bet on anything unless you know you're going to win". Sound advice but if it's going to a better computer maybe I should rethink this stance.  When I turned 18 I did buy a scratch ticket, won a dollar then used that dollar for another ticket and lost. That's how far I ever got with gambling, lol.
For $20.00 you can't really complain and this Jazz cam is much better than the Aiptek DV 5100M (CF version) I had bought for $70.00 back in 2006. The audio from the Jazz is actually decent with an occasional high-hit scratch that is quick if you start to talk loud. The audio on the Jazz is uncompressed wav and not the ADPCM variety. Video quality is better than my Aiptek.
The CMOS chips in these poor man's cams must be terrible and not consistent as they would be with say a Flip UltraHD which I have. When panning with the Jazz cam there is a delay/stutter? Like the camera is trying to catch up or something. Video modes are 640X480 and 320X240 at 30fps. MJPEG.
I have tried using the deshaker on Jazz videos but the results are always disappointing. After putting a video through the deshaker the wobble is much worse combined sometimes with jumping in/out. I had also noticed a defocus occur where the deshaker attempted to steady a frame or a few. Flip video isn't this bad but with the Jazz it is very touchy with varied and random spotted wobble in select regions of the video even when moving not so fast.
One odd thing is that my friend not long ago bought the DV50 version at the same store, the one that looks like a Flip cam, and when comparing the preview images on my cam and his mine looks like there's a slight zoom enabled at the zoomed-out setting. I have to back away a little to get more of the image in.
Second odd thing is we have the same card, a Kodak 4gb, and his camera produced a higher bitrate than mine with nearly the same scenes. He has a good 6 times higher bitrate in 640X480 mode while both of the 320X240 modes from mine and his camera are nearly the same. BUT I end up with 2 plus hours in 480 mode, 4 plus hours in 240 mode while he has about less of the time duration that I do in both shooting modes???????
Zoom kind of sucks on these things. It's an incrementally activated zoom. Digital zoom, of course, stinks though my friend says on his cam the zoom quality is slightly better than when viewed through my cam.
If it ever breaks no big deal just go out and get another one, lol. There is also an HD version of this cam which uses the MOV format, 720p, at this store but I don't want to deal with those kind of files but yet considering that that model is only $29.99, $10.00 more than the one I and my friend has, I'm doubting that model to be true HD anyway. |
