Re: Whither Olympus SP-100
Michael Meissner wrote:
Henry Falkner wrote:
... - a pocket zoom causes less whiplash when doing videos of our Morris dance gigs as I am playing the accordion the P&S is mounted on. I admit, there are a lot more people doing moon shots than taking videos of their gigs as they are performing.
I suspect most people who record Morris dances do it from the audience.
They do.
I can imagine being mounted on the accordion stresses any stabilization that the camera offers.
It does stress the IS. I can stand still and play, and the 5-axis IS copes. The IS does NOT cope when I walk and play in a parade.
While in my heart I am a still photographer, I do spend 2 weekends a year acting as the official videographer at two small renaissance faires. At each faire, I did around 8 hours of recording over 2 days (17 gigs of data, using my JVC camcorders). Unlike you, I'm recording from the audience.
My most memorable event was the Festival of Lights in New Plymouth last January, where I was playing. The Li-92B battery in the SH-1 lasted right to the last sentence of the MC. It cut out in the middle of her thanking the audience, but the clip was saved before the SH-1 died -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBB67904F9U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICva3A2dVH0 https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=VJ9Pn2mrUnA
I am concerned about the scarcity of Olympus cameras this year.
Now that you mention it, Olympus has weeded out most of the P&S camera lines it used to sell (SZ, VR, VH, XZ).
The SZ-30MR was my first P&S with a BSI-CMOS sensor. It was my first digicam that did not test Sandra's patience when shooting for rental adverts. But the SH series improved on that, with reliable focusing to 600mm, a mode dial that does not turn unintentionally, and a longer-lasting battery.
I imagine most of the P&S cameras have been replaced by cell phones, except for the 3 niches:
- Weather sealed: TG-4, TG-860
- Long zoom: SH-2, SP-100
- Enthusiast: Stylus 1s
And the Stylus 1 dies with the lens hanging out when the battery goes flat, like my C-750UZ did. That was bought in 2003!!!. Why did they re-invent that problem? It had been solved since at least the Stylus 800, which I bought in 2005.
Henry