Ispan DDV520

[sgspirit]

Latest specs for the 510/520 indicate they have image stabilization, but not video-in. If they don't have video-in or a remote control, that leaves only MP3 that DSC's with mpeg4 lack.


I was thinking that since the Digilife DDV-520 doesn't have a remote control or video-in, and I want a camera with optical zoom, it starts to make sense to consider a digital still camera with the following features:

- optical zoom minimum 3x
- 640x480 video at 30 frames per second
- MPEG4 compression for video
- image stabilization for video

- MP3 player
- video-in port
- remote control

The first four are essential while the last three are desirable but not show-stoppers. So I did some searching around.

The new Samsung i6 looks like such a camera. It has an mp3 player, and seems to have more extensive and sensible controls than the medium-price hybrids. Such as a the ability to take photos while the mp3 player is running. And onboard editing features. The price on eBay is about $300us, which I expect is more than the 520 will be, but still not as much as other hybrids with optical zoom. The i6 lacks a remote control, swivel/pivot screen and video-in port. But other than that, it seems very attractive and so it may not be worth waiting for the 520, which should be cheaper, but much larger and not as good.

Obviously the i6 is much like Samsung's Miniket. But the Miniket has limited stills resolution, and costs quite a bit more while having the advantage of a 10x optical zoom. The only Miniket with proper stills resolution costs a fortune.

It seems the i6 mutes the sound recording in videos while the optical zoom is zooming, to prevent motor noise being recorded. I wonder how the 520 and other hybrids with optical zoom handle this?

Any thoughts on this (other than accusations of being a hybrid traitor?).

[RaeRae1981]

Hybrid traitor!!! I've also looked into the Samsung i6. Probably a great camera for nice stills - but it's pricey (or at least more than I want to spend on the features I care most about). The Aiptek Zoom DV with 3 x optical is released at the end of May. As far as its quality will be - yet to be seen. Really happy with my newest and nice MPVR, but willing to trade up to zoom if it's gonna be good.

[brachiopod]

Pssst. Hey buddy,
Check out the Kodak V530. Under $200 and nice and small with very good picture quality and optical zoom and unlimited MPEG4 video. Far better quality than the hybrids, does not have your optional items though.

I gotta go.

[fishycomics]

kodack and casio are basically the same body style i am looking at them as well

3x otical zoom while recording but no digital with the optical while zooming

Smaller and can live w/o mp3 and other features.

As Moderator I'll let sgspirit decide on your Punishment Lol raeRae

I am looking at a better hybrid and the 850 of casio or canon s2-is

Bulk or compact? its a tos up, but If I can grab the casio p505 model I'll look into that

I got confused when I viewed 6 models at once Lol

[sgspirit]

I should have posted this in brachiopod's topic:
http://www.stevesforums.com/forums/v...mp;forum_id=92

For me, the question came up as I considered the DDV-520, and then started realizing that the absence of some typical hybrid features makes the choice of a multi-mode dsc more valid.

[sgspirit]

brachiopod wrote:

Pssst. Hey buddy,
Check out the Kodak V530. Under $200 and nice and small with very good picture quality and optical zoom and unlimited MPEG4 video. Far better quality than the hybrids, does not have your optional items though.

I gotta go.

The Kodak looks like a reasonable choice. I don't like the fact it stores videos in Quicktime. Not that I know anything bad about Quicktime, but I'm hesitant to introduce even more format variability into my collection of videos. I have accumulated 10Gb of stills and videos in the two years I've owned hybrids.

[Old HACer]

Ispan's website now shows the release of the DDV-510 and DDV-520 in May.

[fishycomics]

iSpan Corporation
Digital video cameras



Product Details







View basket
DDV-510/520 2.0 inch LCD, 6-in-1 Digital Video Camcorder with Lens, Sensor and LCD Display

Key Specifications/Special Features:

• Features: [/*]
  • Model: [/*]
    • DDV-510: 5.0 M pixels high quality CMOS sensor [/*]
    • DDV-520: 4.0M pixels high quality CCD sensor
    [/*]
  • A 6-in-1 featured digital still camera, digital video camcorder, MP3, MPEG-4 player voice recorder and USB mass storage device product [/*]
  • Maximum 12 Mega pixels resolution [/*]
  • Compact pocket size [/*]
  • Most friendly user interface [/*]
  • MPEG-4 image compression technology with high image resolution DVD quality (full resolution VGA 640 X 480) [/*]
  • 2.0 inch TFT LTPS color LCD panel with 270 degrees screen rotation [/*]
  • Video, TV out for NTSC/PAL system [/*]
  • 32 MB internal flash memory ( including the firmware and software ) [/*]
  • SD/MMC card slot compatible up to 1GB storage [/*]
  • Remaining memory/recording time management [/*]
  • Multi language on LCD display and manual
  [/*]
• Models: [/*]
  • DDV-510: [/*]
    • 5.0 M pixels high quality CMOS sensor [/*]
    • Fixed focus F3.0/f=8.54 [/*]
    • Shooting mode: portrait (100 to 200cm)/normal (200 to infinite) [/*]
    • Zoom:16x digital zoom
    [/*]
  • 
    [/*]
    • 4.0 M pixels high quality CCD sensor [/*]
    • Auto focus: F:2.65(W)~4.97(T) ; f:5.9(W)~17.17(T) [/*]
    • Shooting mode: macro (10 to 30cm)/normal (30 to infinite) [/*]
    • Zoom: 3 x optical zoom , 16 x digital zoom
    [/*]
  • Specifications: [/*]
    • Lens and sensor: shutter type: electrical shutter [/*]
    • Digital imaging and specifications: display: 2.0 inch TFT LTPS LCD, 130K pixels [/*]
    • Resolutions: [/*]
      • Still image: 3936 x 2950 (12.0M);2880 x 2160 (6.0M);2592 x 1544 (5.0M for DDV-510);2272 x 1704 (4.0M for DDV-520); [/*]
      • 1024 x 786 (800k);352 x 288 (TV) pixels [/*]
      • Video: 640 x 480/320 x 240/30fps [/*]
      • Still image file format: JPEG (DCF, Exif 2.2 compliance) [/*]
      • Video compression/file format: MPEG-4 (AVI, ASF, MOV)
      [/*]
    • Audio, video in/out: [/*]
      • Audio input: microphone mono [/*]
      • Audio output: speaker or earphone [/*]
      • Audio file format: ADPCM/WAV (16 kilobit) [/*]
      • Music file format: MPEG-1 layer3/MP3 (CBR) [/*]
      • Music repeat: none/all/one/current/shuffle [/*]
      • Video input: recording any video signal [/*]
      • TV Output: for NTSC/PAL system
  Main Export Markets:
  [/*]
  • Worldwide [/*]

[sgspirit]

Old HACer wrote:

Ispan's website now shows the release of the DDV-510 and DDV-520 in May.

I'm shocked.

[sgspirit]

For amusement, see what we said about this a few months ago:
http://www.stevesforums.com/forums/v...;highlight=520