S2IS video vs stills

[Diggar]

I was at a concert last night and noticed something that I do not fully understand and maybe you can help me.

I took video and stills and the stage was not lighted very well. The video came out great and the stills are very very dark.

How can this be? It is the same lens, same chip, same camera but the difference is remarkable and dramatic.

I had the camera stills set to 400 asa, lowest speed possible and wide open aperature, even the set the ev to +2 and the stills are horribly dark and grainy.

On the other hand the video, although certanily not perfect, is bright and easy to see. It is if I had 2 different cameras there.

Any ideas on this would be very helpful.

Thanks

[mishnogram]

what resolution did you take your stills at? Video I think gets captured at 640X480 only. Maybe that had something to do with it.

[Diggar]

what resolution did you take your stills at? Video I think gets captured at 640X480 only. Maybe that had something to do with it.

Hmm..interesting question. I was at the max resolution when taking the stills. Why does the resolution affect the camera in this way?

Are you not just using more of the sensor?

Thanks

[Jon]

Video benefits from being able to use both highest ISO and slow shutter speeds without getting motion blur. You also don't, because of the lower resolution and playback rate of the final product, notice noise, blur, and the like which will degrade your perception of the still at euivalent settings. For that matter, the downsizing of the video from max. sensor resolution to the final 640x480 will damp out sensor noise by combining cells, giving you a virtual larger pixel size.