Another EU Failure 9:59 - STOP!

So I'm looking at digital cameras - point and shooters. I like the fact
they have video capabilities, just for a quick clip or when taking a
bigger video camera won't be possible.
I found out newer Sont point and shooters have a ten minute limit. I
thought it was just Sony bring a pain - some bean counter thought these
little P&Sers were stealing sales from their video camera sector.
Nope. The ten minute limit is thanks to a EU tax on anything that
records over ten minutes.
So I fault Sony for being stupid and not having different firmware
version for the US and EU. How difficult can that be to write?
Canons don't have any ten minute limit that I can see.
So what the hell is the EU thinking when they think up these taxes? Are
they trying to protect all the great intra-EU camera manufacturers - of
which there are none? Or are they just trying to think up new ways to
pay for EU bull****? How can all those people live like that?
The sad thing is they think they're so sophisticated - they're idiots
for putting up with it.
Does the Eu government want its people in the dark ages? Or do video
cameras have a bigger "carbon footprint?"

First time I hear of this 10 minute limit. But then, why would you want
to record more than 10 minutes of video with a tiny P&S? The idea behind
the video function is to record short video clips.

BTW, older camera models which allow unlimited recording until the
memory card is full, should be available.
--

Alfred Molon
http://www.molon.de - Photos of Asia, Africa and Europe

Alfred Molon wrote:
First time I hear of this 10 minute limit. But then, why would you want
to record more than 10 minutes of video with a tiny P&S? The idea behind
the video function is to record short video clips.

BTW, older camera models which allow unlimited recording until the
memory card is full, should be available.

There's another limitation due to the fat16 and fat32 4GB file size
limitation. At normal res that's around 45 minutes to an hour of video
depending on whether mpeg or mJPEG is used.

As for needing more than ten minutes sometimes you need it when you
least expect it. Who carries a video camera around everywhere they go?
I have a friend who recorded a fight and ended up turning it into
police. That ten minute bull**** would have ruined it.
But hey, obviously recording more than ten minutes at a time would
reduce everyone's carbon footprint.


This is from Sony:
Response 10/31/2008 10:17 AM
Hello,

Thank you for contacting Sony Style. In regard to your inquiry, the EU
Tariff specifies that any digital still camera with a resolution higher
than 800x600 and the duration of video of 30 minutes of more (at 23 fps
or higher) must now be classified as a 'video camera recorder'. The
record time for a digital camera will vary depend on the memory capacity.

For information on available recording capacity for Memory Sticks,
please visit the direct link below.

http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/new...56&mdl=DSCW300

Please let me know if you have any further questions, I will be more
than happy to assist you.

Thank you for choosing Sony and have a great day!

On Jul 12, 6:12*am, Justin wrote:
So I'm looking at digital cameras - point and shooters. *I like the fact
they have video capabilities, just for a quick clip or when taking a
bigger video camera won't be possible.
I found out newer Sont point and shooters have a ten minute limit. *I
thought it was just Sony bring a pain - some bean counter thought these
little P&Sers were stealing sales from their video camera sector.
Nope. *The ten minute limit is thanks to a EU tax on anything that
records over ten minutes.
So I fault Sony for being stupid and not having different firmware
version for the US and EU. *How difficult can that be to write?
Canons don't have any ten minute limit that I can see.
So what the hell is the EU thinking when they think up these taxes? *Are
they trying to protect all the great intra-EU camera manufacturers - of
which there are none? *Or are they just trying to think up new ways to
pay for EU bull****? *How can all those people live like that?
The sad thing is they think they're so sophisticated - they're idiots
for putting up with it.
Does the Eu government want its people in the dark ages? *Or do video
cameras have a bigger "carbon footprint?"

So a ten minute limit leads us into the Dark Ages? What planet are you
really from?

On Sun, 12 Jul 2009 00:12:21 -0400, Justin
wrote:

So I'm looking at digital cameras - point and shooters. I like the fact
they have video capabilities, just for a quick clip or when taking a
bigger video camera won't be possible.
I found out newer Sont point and shooters have a ten minute limit. I
thought it was just Sony bring a pain - some bean counter thought these
little P&Sers were stealing sales from their video camera sector.
Nope. The ten minute limit is thanks to a EU tax on anything that
records over ten minutes.

It appears to be a 4.9% duty on video cameras, but 0% duty on digital
cameras.

so not a huge difference in cost, but a bit for sure.

Jim.

On 2009-07-12, Justin wrote:

I found out newer Sont point and shooters have a ten minute limit. I
thought it was just Sony bring a pain - some bean counter thought these
little P&Sers were stealing sales from their video camera sector.
Nope. The ten minute limit is thanks to a EU tax on anything that
records over ten minutes.

I call bull****.