hi everyone! im about to get a new camera. i have the nikon 3100 before. i m happy with my nikon exept for the video ...no audio! i want a camera that has a good video recording with sound. i have 2 cameras in mind....canon A700 and the sony N1. which one has a better video quality?

Actually one of the best for video is the Canon S-2, and if you want MPEG-4 take a look at the Pentax S5z (now just $155 at www.buydig) or the Casio Z-120.

MT

Neither of the cameras you listed have MPEG4, so you will need a large card. I would suggest alternatives to both. You seem to be looking for a pocket camera.

The Sony T9 has optical stabilization, which is great for movies. The N1 screen is larger, but the T9 is 2.5 inches and high resolution. I would have to use the touchscreen on the N1 for a while to make a judgment, but I don’t think it is that big a deal. But for video the optical stabilization on the T9 is great.

If you aren’t in a hurry the Canon SD700 has optical stabilization and a 4X lens. Many dealers are taking pre-orders so it will be out soon. Unfortunately the pre-order price is full retail and you would want to wait for them to come down. Something I like about both the A700 and especially the smaller SD700 is that Canon has bucked the trend of leaving the optical viewfinder off the camera. You get a steadier hold and can acquire and follow action better with an optical finder.

Casio cameras with MPEG4 have a nice movie feature called past movie mode. You just aim the camera and wait for something worth filming to happen. When the girl pops out of the cake or the toddler does the cute thing again you start recording and it includes the previous 5 seconds from the buffer. It saves a lot of grinding away waiting for something to happen and editing. And MPEG4 puts a lot more on a given sized card.

Available Casio cameras with MPEG4 are the Z750, Z850 and S600. The Z850 has some nifty features like a movie light and the ability to take 3 flash photos in a second. But a couple of people on the Casio board at dpreview have reported grainy movies with the Z850. They seem to have sorted it out with settings, but I would review the posts before considering one. The Z850 and S600 also have digital stabilization for movies that isn’t as good as optical stabilization but seems to work well.

The Z750 takes good movies and is reasonably priced now that the Z850 is out. The S600 is a tiny camera with no optical viewfinder. The Z750/850 have a better lens than the S600 but you probably wouldn’t see it in movies or even normal photography unless you wanted a very large print. None of the Casios have high resolution LCDs.

I don’t think the Z120 has MPEG4 or a past movie mode.

If you have the $$$, the new Sanyo DMX-HD1 (still some teething problems, though)or the older C5/C6.