Egad! Digital Cameras and Video Editing Software!

TECHNOLOGY - We are on a quest to find video editing software that is top notch, doesn't charge an arm and a leg, and is super easy to use (like your illiterate 5 year old kid could use it).

Last year Lilith News bought a new camera, an el cheapo Canon camera which came with a video function. Photography wise we don't have any complaints, but we scarcely use the video function because of three reasons:

#1. Even though we bought an extra large storage disk, the amount of time you can actually record is rather pathetic.

#2. We have difficulties getting the video off the camera and onto a computer properly. It sometimes develops errors while transferring the file from the camera to the computer. Maybe we are doing something wrong. Not sure.

#3. Once we have the video on the computer properly, its an issue to edit it. Since our computer runs Windows 7 (arrrrrggg!!!) it instead has "Windows LIVE Movie Maker" instead of the classic "Windows Movie Maker" (which was a much better program in terms of its range of options, ease of use, etc).

What we wish was that digital cameras and video cameras came with compatible *HIGH QUALITY* video editing software. You know, something which is standardized but really good quality, similar to the classic Windows Movie Maker but with even more options.

A friend of ours has recommended Honestech Video Editor, which unfortunately costs $59.99. There is a free version that we are planning to try using sometime, but there is a watermark on the video. According to CNET its only got 2.5 stars out of 5 and the reviews were mostly disappointment.

Sadly in the field of digital cameras/video cameras there is a lot of competition, both in hardware and the editing software. Every company out there is trying really hard to be "the cool one", but it would be nice if they went a step farther and was also the smart one.

Lets take for example the Samsung SH100, as seen in the video above and the photo shown here. It doesn't look very special.

But what is smart is that it has WiFi connectivity. It allows users to upload their images to the internet (to a location of their choosing, ie. Facebook or Picasa). This effectively means you have UNLIMITED space to store photos and/or videos made using the camera.

Furthermore the camera can be used remotely, like a spy camera, via the internet. That is impressive. And with video recording capabilities of 720p the quality is pretty good.

So that would solve problems #1 and #2 which we listed up above. But what about video editing?

Well as it turns out this camera DOES come with video editing software, a program by the name of Intelli-Studio. According to the video tutorial below Intelli-Studio is pretty easy to use and similar to Windows Movie Maker (which is exactly what we want).

So yeah, that solves problems 1, 2 and 3. The only problem is we're stuck with our Canon camera for now. The Samsung retails for $249.99 CDN.