paddling with a camera

It seems that all my video clips with Pentax Optio WP and W10 have been shot so far without using zoom. In my older Canon PowerShot S40 it was not possible to use optical zoom in the video mode.

I've just checked all three point and shoot digital cameras in my possesion: Pentax Optio WP and W10, and Canon PowerShot S40. They all make pretty loud mechanical noise when zooming and I am sure it will be recorded on video. I also checked for a reference my digital camcorder (Canon Optura Xi) - no sound from zooming, just a very slight vibration (much lower than the sound coming from the tape mechanism). Do you know any compact camera with a silent zoom?

I am not really surprised or disappointed. I have never had too high expectations for sound recording with these small digicams. I prefer to focus on the quality of pictures and video.

I am often recording sound independently from video when the camera is not exposed to wind. I also use my camcorder with an accessory microphone to hunt for some sounds, e.g., birds singing or different water effects, to be used later in my mini movies. It makes movie editing more challenging. I am using Adobe Premiere 6.5 for this job now, but I started editing my first video clips with a free software downloaded from internet.

It is worth to mention that Optio W10 offers a voice recording mode, but I haven't tested it yet. It is also possible to add a voice memo to images.

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