video cameras

Hi Ron,
This one may suit your needs, I saw one recently in a shop bubbling away inside a fish tank, should be handy for filming your new underwater tarp setup. As with most video cameras the wide is not that wide – eqivalent to 43mm.

Ron
At the moment you can get water proof models by Panasonic with the above mentioned SW20 (also slightly shock proof) and the Sanyo Xacti E1 (C65)
Both record 640×480 onto an SD card.
The Pana has a 10x zoom ,43-439mm, the Sanyo has a 5x 38-190mm.
No easy way to attach a wide converter with either.
(that is it…)
Non water proof
Canon FS 100. Same sensor type but faster lens at F2 (better in low light)
Cannot find what the 2.6-96mm focal length , 41mm to 1500mm on 16:9 (IS off). Takes wide angle adaptors.
IE a WA 0.7=28mm
It works with the Mac and has a mic input .
For instructional videos I would forget ambient sound. Much harder to shoot and edit tan using a voice over.
The 640×480 capture, with little or no panning and zooming plus just fade and dissolve on editing is fine for the net (IMHO)
Franco

What would be the next step up in image quality?

My OM Stylus 770sw does 640 X 480 well but it seems a bit small on the computer screen.

Same amount of pixels but different amount of data and twice the frame rate. (SW770 15fps/ camcorders 30fps)
Think of the difference between an A3 print from your Olympus and an SLR . (more or less)
640×480 at 30fps is the NTSC standard, your current Standard Definition broadcast signal.

The next step up is High Definition, 720p (720×1080 progressive scanning, IE 30 full frames per second) 1080i (1080×1920 interlaced, IE 30 even and 30 odd lines per second ) or what is now called Full HD 1920x1080p
Have a look at this clip
http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=5SRGUf-KwIc
it was captured with a JVC Everio at 640×480. See if it's good enough for you. (of course the initial quality is better than that…)
Franco

The Luxe gear clip looked a bit low res to me. Ok for basic quick info but I don't know if I would want to watch more than a few minutes of it.

The new Pentax Optio W60 (1280X720 @15 fps) looks promising.

Would it be a whole lot better than the SW770 or is the 15fps vs 30fps the key and not the 640 X480 @ 15fps Vs 1280X720 @15 fps.

Thanks

Hard to tell. I have not seen the new Pentax as yet . Yes capturing at 30 fps makes it easier to have a smoother playback even when compressed to a smaller file and fewer fps later on. The amount of data recorded (bits per sec) , lens,CCD and processing engine makes a big difference on the final result. As a general comment for what you want to do a dedicated camcorder should be better.
Franco

This is not a commentary on any other post I see, but maybe a new query. Can anyone advise me from experience about which mini video camera(s), if any, work best for extended hikes? VIO POV. 1 is only one I've heard anything about, and it seems to get rave reviews but I don't know if that's just hype. Have various adventure uses, but as example I'll be doing eight day Grand Canyon hike off north rim through back country in September, using a lot of BPL equipment and advice, and would like to record the trip but ONLY if there's a camera kit out there offering extreme light weight, minimal total bulk including batteries and any separate recording device, etc., and perhaps even some kind of solar recharging capability. Any ideas? Thanks. Frank Pierson

OOps, didn't mean to make that so big. Apologies!

Frank

That's okay Frank, it's a great shot so bigger is better!

Sorry I can't respond to your query; I don't know squat about helmet cams other than they look like pretty darn cool little gizmos.

Frank
You may want to have a look at the Go Pro Hero digital camera. It takes 2xAAA batt
http://www.goprocamera.com/
As usual some thinks it's great other wouldn't bother. Have a look at the various clip on the net and read some comments here :

http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-cameras/gopro-digital-hero-3/4505-6501_7-32312327.html
Franco