• Canon PowerShot SD200  117 meg a minute 7 gig an hour - one user said 640x480 at 30 fps 8.5 minutes on 1 gig card.  511 seconds.   Rob has the S500
• Canon A95 Dad, Rob (5meg) $400 (or A85 4 meg for $300) - Dad's 640x480 at 10fps comes to 35-38 meg a minute
• Kodak  DX7590 $500- Paula has
• Canon - 320x240 at 15fps comes to 20 meg a minute in our Thanksgiving videos, Monicas came out at 16 meg a minute
• My Mpeg2 video Rich Camcorder- is 50 meg a minute or 3 gig an hour
• Raw AVI from MiniDV CamCorders   (twice as big as PowerShot SD200) 225 meg a minute 13.5 gig an hour
• Kodak CX7430 $200 Aaron Roper in 640x480  at 13 fps is 20 meg a minute according to one review, Aarons came out at 15 meg a minute
• Sony MPEGMovie VX Smart Zoom  DSC-P41  Jennifer Carr 22 meg a minute MPEG (must be MPEG-1)
• Pentax Optio S50 - looks like only 320 mode -  Movie: AVI (motion JPEG format) approx. 30fps/15fps with sound --  Movie mode 320 x 240 30fps 15fps 128MB 4min. 45sec. 9min. 12sec.
• Sony in MPEG looks like 640x480 takes 24 meg a minute
• QuickTime is MOV
•  MPEG1 (MPG/VCD), MPEG2 (MPG/SVCD/VOB), MPEG4 (DIVX/XVID/ISO

Good Links  AVI vs MPEG 

• Great Reviews  CNet   Amazon
•  The movie mode ROCKS. Imagine, shooting 640x480 at 30fps with NO TIME LIMIT! I bought a 1 gig 66x SD card, and can shoot until the card is full. At full res, 1 gig will hold 8.5 minutes, which is actually pretty amazing considering this is a tiny compact camera. You can also shoot 60fps, for slow motion FX, but that is limited to 360x240.
•  One major improvement is that this thing can record AVI movies as long as memory remains. There are 3 video shooting modes and unlike other cams where there is a time limit, one of the video modes (the standart one) has no time limit.
•  The 640x480 resolution is awesome. You can replay on your 19" monitor at full screen and the video will look great. Under the 640x480 mode, you can capture video at 30 frames per second (fps) or 15 fps, and there is no limit per clip as your only limitation is the amount of space you have left on your memory card. Under the 320x480 mode, you have the Fast Frame Rate option giving you 60 fps, up to 60 seconds per clip, which is great for capturing action shots such as your golf swing. While the main function of the camera is to take still pictures, the high quality video feature is so much fun that you will be using this a lot.
• (optimize image processing speed by getting a SanDisk Ultra II SD memory card - you'll thank me later)
• unlimited movie mode at 640x480, beautiful/handy 2" LCD really awesome especially on a camera this size
•  The movie mode is almost as close as shooting with a regular video camera and it captures the audio with no problem.
•  The tiny flash will work well up to about 10-12 feet or so.
•  startup - by the time you finish pressing the on button you can take your shot (no flash). with flash pre-set on, you wait incrementally longer
•  The picture taking quality works much better if you turn off the flash and adjust the flash and exposure, pictures are more vibrant and not so bright.
•  Movie mode is wonderful.
•  great 640x320 30 fps video (as good as some older camcorders)
•  Well the multi-shot feature on this camera is LIGHTNING fast! If I hold down the shutter button I can take 25 pictures in 10 seconds, which is way faster than any other camera i have ever seen. I think a lot of this has to do with the quicker Secure Digital card instead of the older, slower Compact Flash card
•  2)Unlike most cameras, the SD200 comes with a Li-ion batt, which provides hours of use, most cameras eat AAs like Krispie Kremes.
•  The MPEG feature is also very good.
• Uses industry standard SD cards, not propreitary memory sticks or xD.
• 3MP and 3x zoom is the right combination for most people. Any more MP would a waste of money.
•  is quick to take pictures (very low lag time)
•  The ease of use is much better than other 3 megapixel point-and-shoot cameras
•  The SD200 is noticeably smaller than the S410 or the S500, and even smaller than the SD110
•  Also the SD200 has a far better movie mode than the G6. (It used Canon's new DIGIC2 processor, only seen so far on its really expensive cameras)
•  Can't seem to get your kids smiling ?, with this camera, just set it in continious mode and hold the button down. over 2 shots per second! until you fill the memory card ! Your bound to get at least one with your kids smiling.
•  SD200 vs. SD300 , i'd say go for SD200 . There is about $120 price difference. So spent that money on things that matter such a larger memory card (definite need) and an extra battery
•  This camera is roughly 30 percent smaller (in terms of volume) and 40 percent lighter than the latest S-series PowerShot S410 and S500 models, . To achieve this reduction, Canon employed higher density glass in the lens design and a smaller CCD sensor chip (in addition to a smaller battery and flash memory format.) The resulting image quality is excellent for an ultracompact, but it is not up to the level of the S-series models, as can be seen by comparing image samples on Canon's USA consumer products web site and elsewhere.
• Unlike other ultracompacts, the flash is reasonably powerful at short range. The large LCD is fine for reviewing information you would rather not upload to your computer.
• Canon will soon release the SD300, a 4-megapixel version of the SD200. Packing more pixels into such a small sensor format will result in more image noise, so it is unlikely that the image quality will be better, and certainly not worth the extra $100+ at this image quality level.
•  Low-light focus system dramatically improved over previous canon ultracompacts
•  Canon switched from Compact Flash memory to SD memory, which reads and writes much faster.
•  Fast start-up time -  Startup time is under 1 second (excellent)
•  I would recommend 2 accessories:
  1. Canon Digital Elph Accessories kit for SD300 and SD200. This kit includes a spare battery, a sturdy case (just fits the camera, has a belt clip and handstrap, plus a steel neck strap).
  2. Sandisk 1GB SD card. Even though this is not the Ultra II highspeed card, I can still use it to shoot videos with the camera
•  Switching from Photo to Review (and vice versa) is VERY fast
•  The movie mode is amazing. I got a 1GB card and this doubles as my videocam.
•  The SD300's charger, by contrast, is very compact; no bigger than the camera itself, and its plug swings out so you don't need any cord. The overally travel package of camera and charger is like carrying two tins of Altoids mints
•  I'm not one to take movies with this type of camera, BUT the movie mode in the SD300 is truly amazing. I love this thing!
•  This is my fourth camera from the Canon Powershot line, I use the high end SLR Canons professionally but carry a small camera with me for that once-in-a-life time shot that might appear; typically I use one of the Canon Powershot line as the software is familiar to me and they're rugged. I used the S40 for a year, the S50 for a month or so, and then the Powershot Pro1, all excellent cameras for their intentions.
  
  However, the SD300 will run rings around all of them, pointedly it has the instant on and instant auto-focus and immediate shooting that pros demand, but get only with the high-end SLR cameras, features that are sorely missing from the Powershot line. The digital lag problem, typical in low end cameras, culminated in the Powershot Pro1 wherein the camera is un-useable for motion shots or in poor light (it's still-life capabilities are excellent though). Now Canon has stuck their high end DIGIC processor and software in this cellphone-tiny Elph, since it has the same processor as the 20D, it feels closer to it in performance than it does to the rest of the Powershot line; indeed this is the first Powershot to have such a processor: It shoots sport-photo fast, ie 5 frames at full resolution every two seconds with enough of a buffer to get a dozen or so shots before it slows down, each shot appears immediately on its large screen, another first. It has an onscreen 9 point focusing (with green squares) that is user modifiable for the person-in-the-corner shot. The flash is so good it should be an attachment: shoots six different ways depending upon light conditions. My large hands had no trouble at all with the buttons, biggest problem I anticipate is forgetting its in my pocket and sending it through the laundry, its that thin!
  
  Now for the feature that none of the high end Canons have, including the multi-thousand dollar digital SLR line, and the other Powershots can only approximate: a 60 fps movie mode, Holy Cow! Shooting good quality slow motion movies with this credit-card-with-a-lens, what a hoot, it also shoots normal speed 30 fps for a 640x480 movies of surprising liquid-like evenness, there is no jerking even with rapidly moving objects. So not only is it a stand by still camera, if you are a film maker who needs a light weight movie camera around for that once-in-a-lifetime scene stick this one in your wallet. Home run for Canon.
•  I bought and tried the Sony DSC-P150, Canon S410, and the Canon S70. They were all returned in favor of this little gem. This has the best movie mode, taking 640x480 at 30fps, and even has a 60fps mode for golf swings,
•  Cons:  The flash is bright, so redeye is very common in many pictures.
•  Cons:  Must remove the batter to charge it,Wish there was a cradle made for it, that charged it as well
•  Another costly & propreitary battery from Canon.
•  Battery life could be a longer. Used 2 generic $15 spares and they lasted as long as the Canon battery that shipped with the camera
•  The software is cumbersome. I'd rather have a direct plug and play version, where i can transfer my images like from any other storage device. Having to go through a software is not appreciated.
•  Don't expect it to get great battery life, especially if you're shooting with the LCD and Flash all the time

Nikon  Coolpix 5200 $349  costco  LINK   Nikon LINK

• 5-megapixel sensor captures enough detail to create photo-quality 13-by-17-inch enlargements
• 3x optical zoom plus 2x digital zoom for 6x total
• Carl Zeiss optics; high-resolution movie mode with sound; large 2.5-inch LCD
• Compatible with Memory Stick and Memory Stick Pro media; includes 32 MB card
• Powered by 2 AA batteries (NiMH rechargeables included); connects to PCs and Macs via USB 2.0

The camera is light and small. It has plenty of "scene modes" that make it easy for anyone to take a picture. You can also take 640x480 movies with sound for as long as your memory stick pro will hold them. (If you are using a regular memory stick, the time is limited.) The camera is lightning fast, both in startup time and time to store an image after shooting. There is a "burst mode" too that can allow multiple shots to be taken in succession, but it is too buried in the menus to be useful unless you know that good action is coming.