fx8 observations

lharris said:

Looks like your flash has a 'camera attachment'...

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some might say its 'riding flash-gun'.

ha!

lharris said:

Hey- like you, I have the FX8--but mine is in shipment--so tell me
you love it??!!

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its not perfect, I've been listing what comes to mind, here and there; but it does seem to do what it claims to. you just have to match if your needs match its abilities. or like that

lharris said:

Hey- what's a megapixel more or less? (actually 20%...)

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the new sensor might be noisier. and certainly each pic is bigger, reducing the # you can save per 'roll'.

if they added .mp4, I'd be SERIOUSLY bummed. but since its the same codec as what the fx8 has, no big deal.

--
bryan, http://www.grateful.net , http://www.flickr.com/photos/linux-works

lharris said:

Funny, 'Sir Linux', but to me a plug in type charger is preferred.
I never saw it as an advantage that it did not take up room at the
plug--since I use corded surge protectors a lot.

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the 'wall warts' take up room AT the plug. sometimes the blocks, well, block other blocks. that hinders things. with a thin cord, you're guaranteed that it will fit, and also that it won't bother any others. I guess I like that, over the minor inconv. of having a cord to have to tie up.

lharris said:

As a traveler, the less cords the better!!!!

Of course, sometimes it is nice to have a car charger option.

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I don't know how this would work with a car system. I think you'd have to treat this as normal ac and invert your car's dc to create a synt. 110ac. ie, a power inverter in the lighter plug. but I bet there's aftermarket chargers made for this battery that will work more efficiently in the car.

--
bryan, http://www.grateful.net , http://www.flickr.com/photos/linux-works

Hey-

My e-mails keep coming back????

Still trying...

Rejected as DNS --but all I did was hit reply and then also try a forward to your address??

Linda

write to my gmail addr - like it says in my profile. that should work.

--
bryan, http://www.grateful.net , http://www.flickr.com/photos/linux-works

This is just a guess but do you think maybe it has to do with you using a BIG card (2 GB)? I don't think my FX7 is noticeably slow esp. start-up. Just an idea

Kimnicho said:

This is just a guess but do you think maybe it has to do with you
using a BIG card (2 GB)? I don't think my FX7 is noticeably slow
esp. start-up. Just an idea

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nope, not the problem. 1gig cards = same timing.

even having NO card in = same timing.

unless we could put the 7 and 8 side by side and race them, its hard to tell. to me, its dog slow on shutdown and slower than it should be at startup. but then again, I DON'T know what goes on in an OIS system - maybe they have to 'lock the movement' or something before they retract. who knows.

but the canon sd-500, for example, is very noticeably faster. very very quick on shutdown and pretty fast on startup, too.

at startup, you have to do 2 things: ready the mechanics (extend the lens); and initialize the software state (ie, run the program 'starting at zero' and setup any flash card filesystems.) ideally, you'd want to start them both at the same time, when the power is applied, and have them work in parallel. so that some of the software stuff is init'd while the lens is being extended.

on the fx8, it seems almost like they're doing it in SERIES and not PARALLEL. ie, the video stuff doesn't show up on the display until the lens is mostly fully extended.

I'm doing a lot of guessing, and I could be very wrong. but it seems like its slower than it should be, from a technical perspective.

--
bryan, http://www.grateful.net , http://www.flickr.com/photos/linux-works

Ahhk.. shattered.

I was looking at the Panasonic site.. the IOS works well..

Are you able to take a few night time shots for me?? PLease

Just wondering how they would turn out.
Thanks.

linuxworks said:

Shimoneous said:

Hi there,
I was just wondering if you have been able to compare this camera
to the Casio EX-S500, i noticed you said the lens cover was
different to the S500, and was wondering if you have compared all
the other features to it too??

I'm in the market for either the S500 or the FX8 and am having a
hard time deciding.

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sorry, that's CANON s500. the older model.

heh, older model. its only a year old!

--
bryan, http://www.grateful.net ,
http://www.flickr.com/photos/linux-works

Click to expand...

everytime i take out the battery of my fx8 to get recharged, i have to reset the date. this happening to you too? wack.

no, doesn't happen to me.

I bet I know what the problem is.

are you leaving the batt inside the cam fully charged?

oftentimes, there is a small rechargeable batt that holds date/time. that batt needs to 'charge' initially and gets its charge when you put in the actual user battery and leave a fully charged user battery in for a few hours, at least, before draining.

have you tried that?

last resort: reset the whole thing, enter the date, and then turn it off with a fully charged batt in there overnight.

soNburst said:

everytime i take out the battery of my fx8 to get recharged, i have
to reset the date. this happening to you too? wack.

Click to expand...

--
bryan, http://www.grateful.net , http://www.flickr.com/photos/linux-works

Ahhkk i see.. thats alright.

Would you be able to do a few night shots for me?? Or anyone interested i should say

Mainly like a night portrait...

Thanks in advance.

anyone have some disk and b/w to spare?

I have a 30MB video clip from the fx8 that I can upload - if I have somewhere to put it (no way am I serving 30MB on my home dsl line - no way!).

its a 30sec clip in quicktime, direct from the fx8. nothing special - just some ducks walking around and being fed bread by some guy. it has some motion, which I think is the point that people wanted to see.

the OIS is nice in movie mode, to be sure. I wonder if I'm seeing a problem on my windows side or on the fx9 - I see some wavy lines as I pan left to right across the grass. not sure if its windows being a PITA or if its actually inside the file, itself..

--
bryan, http://www.grateful.net , http://www.flickr.com/photos/linux-works

I just watched all the clips I took today. I am seeing some kind of horizontal noise burst as I pan left and right. with OIS turned on - could that be a problem?

when the camera is more or less kept steady, you don't get those noise lines. but when you quick pan, you seem to. at least my viewer is showing that, but I still can't be sure if its in the file (camera bug) or in my player (winblows bug).

(I need some file hosting. I am willing to upload a few hundred meg (yes, many clips) - but I don't have bandwidth to host it at my place. any volunteers?)

--
bryan, http://www.grateful.net , http://www.flickr.com/photos/linux-works

linuxworks said:

I just watched all the clips I took today. I am seeing some kind
of horizontal noise burst as I pan left and right. with OIS turned
on - could that be a problem?

when the camera is more or less kept steady, you don't get those
noise lines. but when you quick pan, you seem to. at least my
viewer is showing that, but I still can't be sure if its in the
file (camera bug) or in my player (winblows bug).

(I need some file hosting. I am willing to upload a few hundred
meg (yes, many clips) - but I don't have bandwidth to host it at my
place. any volunteers?)

--
bryan, http://www.grateful.net ,
http://www.flickr.com/photos/linux-works

Click to expand...

Would that have something to do with the OIS trying to compensate for your hand movement?? Does it do the same/similar thing with up and down movements??

Just a thought

linuxworks said:

anyone have some disk and b/w to spare?

I have a 30MB video clip from the fx8 that I can upload - if I have
somewhere to put it (no way am I serving 30MB on my home dsl line -
no way!).

its a 30sec clip in quicktime, direct from the fx8. nothing
special - just some ducks walking around and being fed bread by
some guy. it has some motion, which I think is the point that
people wanted to see.

the OIS is nice in movie mode, to be sure. I wonder if I'm seeing
a problem on my windows side or on the fx9 - I see some wavy lines
as I pan left to right across the grass. not sure if its windows
being a PITA or if its actually inside the file, itself..

Click to expand...

Hi, I get the lines you mention when i view them in quicktime but not when i convert them to dvd.

marko

linuxworks said:

--
bryan, http://www.grateful.net ,
http://www.flickr.com/photos/linux-works

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for the first time, I tried the analog video out (yellow composite rca cable). works fine! select ntsc from the menu and you're good to go.

(I asked the seller this - my ebay seller - and even after a few rounds of emails he still didn't get what I was trying to ask. I was concerned that it would only do PAL (or even worse, SECAM) not to worry, it works in pal or ntsc - its not locked to just one as I had feared.

you can play back video or stills or see the menus - just as you'd expect. kind of neat to bring a very small pocket digital with you - take some movies - then plug into your tv to view them as if they came off a dvd.

anyway, wanted to mention this for completeness. yes, it does support ntsc on the fx8.

--
bryan, http://www.grateful.net , http://www.flickr.com/photos/linux-works

I noticed on ebay that you (at least I believe it was you) were selling your FX8.
Would you mind telling me what you didn't like about it?

Thanks,
Glenda

I like my fx8 quite a lot. QUITE a lot. but now I'm thinking of selling mine, as well. (I just gave 30 days notice to move to a new place, and so I could probably use this money more towards my move than toward the camera itself).

I found my fx8 on ebay, and back to ebay it shall go

(priorities change SO fast, sometimes, don't they?)

--
bryan, http://www.grateful.net , http://www.flickr.com/photos/linux-works

Thank you for the reply and good luck with the move. Sorry the cam has to go.

gb

linuxworks said:

I like my fx8 quite a lot. QUITE a lot. but now I'm thinking of
selling mine, as well. (I just gave 30 days notice to move to a
new place, and so I could probably use this money more towards my
move than toward the camera itself).

I found my fx8 on ebay, and back to ebay it shall go

(priorities change SO fast, sometimes, don't they?)

--
bryan, http://www.grateful.net ,
http://www.flickr.com/photos/linux-works

Click to expand...

Hey linux..

Where abouts do you live?? I was after buying one of these puppies in the next few weeks

Save you on Ebay fees if you can do me a good deal.
email: [email protected]

cheers

Sorry linux, i just looked into you profile... Should have done that first.. Anyways, i noticed you live in the U.S. I'm an Aussie boy, so it's probably not going to be much help...