The ZS-30's video isn't as good as Canon,IMHO, but you can make a few tweaks in post production to make it entirely acceptable. The ZS-30 tends to over-expose but that can be corrected if you abandon the full auto function. The footage it produces ...
IMHO tape on the battery sounds like spitting in the back of a tube type radio or adding mothballs to the gas tank. Isn't part of the battery warning/shutdown feature there to protect the camera's circuits from operating on power below a certain lev...
