Can anyone explain to me what 24p cinema mode is in the world of video?

[Bete]

From what I understand so far this is 24 frames instead of the 29 that's normal in NTSC.

This is a feature on my new video camera. It's suppose to be a very good feature to use. It's suppose to be like filming the same way the big boys do it in Hollywood. Add high defintion and this is suppose to be the ultimate.

I don't see what good it is unless you have pro software for it and reasonable starting price for that kind of software is $500 for editing software. No consumer software for this video mode seems to be available for editing purposes. It seems you have to capture in another mode; so, why do it?

I know I must not be understanding this right; so, I'm asking for help. Can you explain it and/or lead me to a site that will help.

 

[Groucho]

24p is the holy grail for watching film-based content on your high-definition system - giving you one frame of video for one frame of original film, no worries about the speedup you get from the European PAL system (where 24 fps is sped up to 25 fps) or the somewhat stutters 3:2 pulldown that we get.

However, I'm not sure that it's something that I'd really care about if I were shooting my own video. 24 fps is obviously slower than 30 fps, so 30 fps can give you more fluid motion, as well as footage that plays more easily on the vast majority of playback devices.

I'm sure there's some reason why someone might want it, but for Joe Average Consumer, I would bet that it's unnecessary.

 

[Bete]

I called Canon about it, too. I did find out I can shoot in this mode, but still do everything else the same with video software. Supposedly, one use of this 24p is that you will get better video under low light conditions. I don't understand why (too technical for me) it's better for that, but it's what made me curious about it.