[kadajawi]

Well, idiots may be a bit harsh, I just don't think there is anyone who does video at Pentax. They should hire a professional videographer as an advisor for their engineering team. Tell them the features he wants, needs, work on them, ... and use the fact that he worked on it (especially if he is famous) for ADVERTISING. Imagine how many new customers they could attract by even minor firmware changes. Stuff that doesn't make the camera worse as a still camera.

As an example of how well the SR works during video in the K-5:

Vimeo

(Not my video, just found it earlier today. It's pretty much what I can do with my K-5 too, though he is better at operating the camera.)

[hopsing]

Some simple video clips. Pentax K-30 ooc, no post processing (resolution is only HD Ready on vimeo!). SR is on, DA 18-55 WR (M-Mode, Full HD, 21mm, f/11, 1/100sek, ISO100).

Vimeo

Vimeo

For me video features of Pentax K-30 are universally usable ooc without tripod. You can't go wrong with that. Things can only get better ...

[JohnnyXD]

So sad the K30 won't get hardware SR in next firmware as Pentax doesn't care about video. It's the only thing missing to make the camera usable for video.

[Aristophanes]

Sensor shift in video mod chews up battery and makes an awful noise. Shoot wide and edit for stabilization later is by far the best process.

[kadajawi]

Sensor shift in video mod chews up battery and makes an awful noise. Shoot wide and edit for stabilization later is by far the best process.

Bring spare batteries and use an external mic, the internal one isn't good anyway.

Stabilizing later doesn't work that well because a) the data from the accelerometer is missing and b) Pentax doesn't use CCD sensors. You will get rolling shutter without stabilization, and fixing that is AFAIK pretty damn hard to impossible, so you'll have a stable image where part of it is wobbling around left and right, up and down. You'd get the same if not better results by using a K-30 and the built in digital stabilization. And everyone seems to agree that that stabilization system is pretty rubbish.

[Aristophanes]

Bring spare batteries and use an external mic, the internal one isn't good anyway.

Stabilizing later doesn't work that well because a) the data from the accelerometer is missing and b) Pentax doesn't use CCD sensors. You will get rolling shutter without stabilization, and fixing that is AFAIK pretty damn hard to impossible, so you'll have a stable image where part of it is wobbling around left and right, up and down. You'd get the same if not better results by using a K-30 and the built in digital stabilization. And everyone seems to agree that that stabilization system is pretty rubbish.

I use Final Cut or iMovie to stabilize later and it works much better. I use K-x video with IBIS on and it makes an awful racket and flakes out past a certain degree of movement and acceleration. Gave up on it. IBIS for video is one of those features that escalates consumer expectations far higher than is technically possible. Maybe the in-camera processor is no better, but since most video requires PP anyway it is better to do so on the PC with thecaveat you need to understand that shooting wider angles (like they do in the real movies) is required.

With proper technique I get no rolling shutter, which has little to do with SR anyway.
No physical SR be it IBIS or in-lens can keep up with video jerkiness, not in the unit size of a DSLR. IBIS can only assist already stable technique. If you are seriuos about stabilization you need something else:

M?VI – a revolutionary handheld stabilized system takes flight

[kadajawi]

Yes, after a certain degree of movement it will have to give up, but the same thing goes for a steadicam. Only when operated well will you get smooth videos. Wear the right shoes, learn how to walk properly. Look at the video on the top of this page. I'd say that is smooth enough. The in camera processor did an awful job at stabilizing video, and I don't see how it would be possible for something like iMovie to stabilize video properly. You'll need short exposure times, because as soon as it gets blurry, well, it is blurry. The software probably won't be able to remove the blurriness and give you a sharp picture. So no matter how stable the video will be, a few frames will suddenly have motion blur... without any motion! And the direction of the motion blur can change. But shooting at short exposure times may not be possible (especially not with Pentax cameras that won't give you proper manual controls), and you'll get a Saving Private Ryan effect, that you then have to use filters on to get rid of it (which won't look as good as the real deal). I can video that satisfies me with the SR system of the K-5. Do I need to walk differently? Yes. Do I occasionally move a bit too much, or a bit too fast? Yes. But if I'm moving too fast for the SR system, I'll definitely move too fast for software solutions (i.e. motion blur will be clearly visible). The K-5 system can be picked up when it is rather quiet, but there are enough videos where I don't hear it.

MöVI looks interesting, but the price tag is a bit steep.