Shocked at just how obsolete my Canon Elph is.....

[chief38]

As some here may know one of my other hobbies is collecting Lionel Trains for my Layout. I finally finished the Layout a couple of months ago and decided that I'd make a full length video of it - so I grabbed my Canon Elph SD600 camera. I made a few test videos, downloaded them onto my computer and was horrified at just how grainy and poor quality the results were. I then tried doing the same with my iphone 8. The iphone video's are incredible and so I shot 53 separate videos of the layout and collection. I am now in the process of editing them all together.

My Canon camera is 6 Megapixels and the iphone is 12 - what a huge difference in quality and clarity!! So I decided to sell the Canon camera and when I went on ebay to list it I saw many there for under $20 bucks. I truly forgot what I paid for it but know it was quite a bit more than that! It really amazes me that a phone can take way better video's and pictures than a dedicated camera just a few years old - wow!

I have decided instead of trying to sell it (just not worth it) I'll give it to a child to sort of learn with. Man, technology is moving so fast these days!

 

[Watchdog]

Well, the new Elphs are a whole different animal than the one you have.

But still, the iPhone camera is nothing less than amazing, both for image quality and convenience. I only have the iPhone 7 Plus, but the latest IOS update added new photo editing features to it, so I don't always have to tranfer the images into my desktop and Photoshop.

Just curious...what app are you using to splice your videos together? I use Splice. Or I did use Splice in its old version. It's been updated, and in my opinion, it's been ruined in the process. It's no longer as intuitive as it used to be for me.

A suggestion from me, if you don't mind: Take a look at the accessory lenses for your iPhone made by Olloclip. I've had a set of their lenses for every iPhone I've ever had. I currently have the fisheye, macro, and wide angle. I'll bet you could make some interesting little train videos with the fisheye. Only drawback (and it's a big one far as I'm concerned) to the lenses is that you can't use them when the phone is in a case like an Otterbox. The phone has to be naked to use them. Plus, they've dramatically increased in price since I first started using them.

 

[Telecaster]

I had a Canon Elph in about 2001. My first digital. I think it was about 3 megapixels.

 

[GypsmJim]

I have more cameras than I hate to admit. Including a Canon 35 mm with 2 bodies and 4 lenses that cost several thousand. Obviously, using film makes no sense.

My latest is a 14 mp pocket camera that even beats my 12 mp phone. When I use it I have it set to 6 mp just to minimize the size of each pic so I don't fill up my hard drive. At 6 mp my movies come out great and I am at least able to make 8x10 prints. Personally I don't see the difference between 6 and 12, at least the way I view them.

 

[Onomea]

I am not a camera guy by any means but have read that good, sharp photos are a lot more than just how many megapixels the camera has, and that megapixels are something of a marketing thing. (Though I may have read that before the advent smartphones, now that I think about it...)

I have a Canon 7 megapixel point and shoot somewhere, and a Luminix 12 megapixel. I like the fixed telephoto on the Luminix so last spring tried it again after a number of years. I didn’t like the results compared to the clarity of the iPhone pix, plus I didn’t like how after pushing the shutter button there is a noticeable lag before the shot.... Plus I just don’t like the inconvenience of lugging around a camera with a big lens...

The iPhones just make it so easy for anyone to take good pictures...

 

[snubbyfan]

I looked it up, the 6mp refers to still picture resolution.
On your camera the video resolution's 480p which is pretty low hence the grainy video.
I have a Canon PowerShot ELPH180. The picture resolution's 20mp and the video resolution's HD 720p. Takes great pictures and video good enough for my YouTube Channel. I have 3 different cameras and record all my video at 720p.
Costs just a bit more than $20 though.....

 

[LVSteve]

I bet the old Elph is running 480p video and the iPhone 1080. That difference will show up on the screen real quick.

 

[chief38]

Well, the new Elphs are a whole different animal than the one you have.

But still, the iPhone camera is nothing less than amazing, both for image quality and convenience. I only have the iPhone 7 Plus, but the latest IOS update added new photo editing features to it, so I don't always have to tranfer the images into my desktop and Photoshop.

Just curious...what app are you using to splice your videos together? I use Splice. Or I did use Splice in its old version. It's been updated, and in my opinion, it's been ruined in the process. It's no longer as intuitive as it used to be for me.

A suggestion from me, if you don't mind: Take a look at the accessory lenses for your iPhone made by Olloclip. I've had a set of their lenses for every iPhone I've ever had. I currently have the fisheye, macro, and wide angle. I'll bet you could make some interesting little train videos with the fisheye. Only drawback (and it's a big one far as I'm concerned) to the lenses is that you can't use them when the phone is in a case like an Otterbox. The phone has to be naked to use them. Plus, they've dramatically increased in price since I first started using them.

I have been using iMovie (came with my Mac) to do all my editing. I never used it before last week but it wasn't that difficult to figure out. Since I've used no others prior to this I have no comparison but it wasn't too hard to figure out once I got the hang of it. Tomorrow will be the last step which is adding some music. I have no idea how to do so, but I will figure it out.

The lens on my iPhone 8 is incredible! Quite honestly - I am shocked just how great the video came out! If I was going to do this on any regular basis I would take your advise and look into the lenses but I am pretty much done now and will more than likely not take any serious videos again for a while - but thank you for letting me know they exist (just incase).

I have dropped my phone so many times while working on my Layout I lost count! I've got the Incipio Dual Pro case which in my opinion is fantastic since my phone is still in perfect condition. I'd be afraid to use it naked for any extended period of time. These damned phones have gotten quite pricey.

 

[chief38]

I bet the old Elph is running 480p video and the iPhone 1080. That difference will show up on the screen real quick.

Don't really know what the Elph is running at - but you are correct that the iPhone is 1080. A HUGE HUGE difference!

 

[chief38]

I looked it up, the 6mp refers to still picture resolution.
On your camera the video resolution's 480p which is pretty low hence the grainy video.
I have a Canon PowerShot ELPH180. The picture resolution's 20mp and the video resolution's HD 720p. Takes great pictures and video good enough for my YouTube Channel. I have 3 different cameras and record all my video at 720p.
Costs just a bit more than $20 though.....

I was just blown away at how good the iPhone 8 video is - and that model is already 2 or 3 generations old! I've used it many times to take thousands of stills - but this is the first serious video I've done so far. It runs about 36 minutes long (over 5 Gigs) after editing. I'm going to put it up to a link - I'll send it to you after adding some music. It's all in 1080.

 

[chief38]

On another note I also have an entire Canon A-1 film camera (pro model, NOT the AE-1) with lenses, dedicated flash, cases. etc. in excellent shape that I haven't used in many years. Gonna look into selling that outfit as I know I'll never use it again.

 

[boykinlp]

On another note I also have an entire Canon A-1 film camera (pro model, NOT the AE-1) with lenses, dedicated flash, cases. etc. in excellent shape that I haven't used in many years. Gonna look into selling that outfit as I know I'll never use it again.

It might make you sick to see what it brings! I have had a Canon AE-1 for probably more than 40 years and, of course, was not using it. I thought about selling it. When I looked on eBay at the prices they were selling for, I just put it back in the closet.
Larry