Cheaper large format cameras that shoot proper 1080p

[Keith Walters]

I have a requirement for a cheap digital stills camera with reasonable quality interchangeable lenses, that can shoot proper 30 fps 1080p video.

 

The camera is going to be used for failure analysis of electrical appliances and so may have a fairly short lifespan! Consequently, I'm looking for something around $A300 or less.

 

There are quite a few cameras that would fit the bill, the only problem is, every @$#!??!! one of them produces 1080i video!

 

As far as grabbing stills goes, 1080i has about the same resolution as 720p, but it's very difficult to get a clean still from 1080i.

 

Basically, most of these cameras are really only capable of 720p, but by pissing around with the encoding, the manufacturers pretend it's 1920 x 1080, you know, for the benefit of all the millions of CRT HDTVs out there....

 

The option of 720p/1080i would be nice, but not too many manufacturers give you that either.

 

I'm still getting the best 720p results from the Samsung Wave mobile phone my service provider gave me a few years back as a bribe to stay with them...

 

Any recommendations?

 

I don't need particularly fancy lenses or features, in fact all I really want is 30 fps 1080p!