Movie recording stops after 15 seconds. Memory card has been formatted and the screens shows a busy icon

I think your card is damaged. Try connecting to your computer and check available space. Take a backup and format it from your PC, check if it is formatting completely.

If the card is not Class 10 you will also have problem recording movie from a camera. You need a high speed card to record video.

Most cameras require a card that writes data fast in order to keep up with shooting movies. If your card is slow, you might consider buying a faster (albeit more expensive) one.

First, you need to have an SD card installed; the 8025 will not record video to internal memory. Second, be aware that the 8025 will not record any sound to accompany the video.

Press the Home button to bring up the main menu. Select Movie Mode (movie camera icon). Press the shutter button to begin shooting. Press the shutter button to stop shooting and save the file.

If you need a manual, you can download one from the manufacturer's web site at http://vivitar.com

Video Mode
Press the MODE button to select the Video mode.
Note: The camera has limited internal memory allowing you to record up to 20 seconds in QVGA. An SD
card (up to 8GB) needs to be inserted in order to use the video mode normally.

When the icon appears on the top left corner of the LCD screen this indicates that you are in Video
mode.

1. Prepare the object or subject you wish to record.
2. Press the Shutter button to begin shooting the video.
3. The elapse time will appear on the top right of the LCD screen and the icon will flash on the
LCD screen.
4. Press the Shutter button again to stop the recording and save this file in AVI format.

Note:
1. You can preview the AVI files in Playback mode or once downloaded to your computer by using
Quick Time and Windows Media Player.
2. When the camera's memory is full, the “Memory Full Insert a SD Memory Card to Transfer and
Shoot More video!” message will appear on the LCD screen when you attempt shoot more videos.
Download the test file from the internal memory to the PC or delete them to shoot more videos.
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Alternatively, you can insert a SD memory card to expand the memory to record longer videos.
3. The LED will light up when the light condition is not good.

This happens when card and camera are not communicating properly.
Buffer runs full and the recording stops.
Try formatting the card in the camera. Formatting will erase the card, so download movies and images to the computer before formatting.

I'm sorry to inform you but after researching your camera only records for 20 seconds. It has nothing to do with your card. Only 20 second blocks of time.


Movie mode - The total amount of recording time available is shown by the green "00:20" in the lower right hand corner. This is SHQ 640x480 resolution at 30fps, the maximum recording time is 20 seconds. In the lower quality 640x480 @ 15fps or 320x240 size, the recording time is limited only by space on your xD card. The shaking hand icon indicates that we have the image stabilizer turned on.

The card you are using is having a hard time keeping up with the video. Have you ever formatted this card before? Suggest trying a format of the card to see if that corrects the problem (NOTE this will also erase the card, so only do this AFTER you've downloaded all the photos/videos to your computer.

Press menu, select the tools menu, then select the item stating the card's capacity and select it. Then follow the on-screen prompts for a low-level format.

If formatting does not correct this, you might want to consider a better/faster card than what you're currently using. Be careful in purchasing though in that I doubt the newer SDHC cards will be compatible with your camera.

Hi,

The picture that I posted shows a TZ3 mode dial. I added a blue arrow to point out an icon on the mode dial.
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1. Turn the mode dial on the camera so this icon is selected.
2. Switch on the camera.
3. Aim the camera at your subject, press the shutter button halfway to focus, then press it fully to begin the video. (Just as you would take a picture.)
4. To stop taking video, press the shutter button fully again.
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~When a video starts being taken, its current length will appear on the camera's LCD screen.
~Videos take up more space on the memory card than do pictures.
~If an SD memory card becomes full while recording, then the video will stop automatically.
~Videos can be played back on the camera's "PLAYBACK" mode. They can also be viewed on a TV or downloaded to a computer.

You can add memory to your camera by purchasing an xd memory card.
Compatible cards
xD-Picture Card (16MB – 1GB)
There are two ways to record the pictures you take with this camera.
Recording pictures to the internal memory
• Pictures are recorded to the internal memory, and when the number of storable still
pictures reaches 0, you must connect the camera to a computer to download the
pictures, and then erase the pictures from the internal memory.
Using an xD-Picture Card (optional)
• Pictures are recorded to the card when inserted in the camera. When the card is
full, you download the pictures to a computer, and then either erase the pictures
from the card or use a new card.
• Pictures are not recorded to the internal memory when a card is inserted in the
camera. Pictures in the internal memory can be copied to the card using the
[BACKUP] function.
g“BACKUP Copying pictures in the internal memory to the card” (P.25)
“The card” (P.60)
Number of storable still pictures and recording length of movies
Still pictures
Movie
• If you use a non-Olympus card or a card used for another application, such as for
a computer, the message [CARD ERROR] is displayed. To use this card with this
camera, use the [FORMAT] function to format the card.
g“MEMORY FORMAT (FORMAT) Formatting the internal memory/card” (P.24)
Additional shooting tips and information
Increasing the number of pictures that can be taken
IMAGE QUALITY Image size
Number of storable still pictures
Internal memory Card (128 MB)
SHQ 2816 × 2112 2 25
HQ 2816 × 2112 6 76
SQ1 2048 × 1536 8 108
SQ2 640 × 480 60 726
IMAGE QUALITY Image size
Remaining recording time
Internal memory Card (128 MB)
HQ 320 × 240 (15 frames/sec.) 32 sec. 6 min. 37 sec.
SQ 160 × 120 (15 frames/sec.) 2 min. 8 sec. 26 min. 28 sec.

When recording movies in the SHQ image quality mode, I am restricted to 15 seconds of recording time per movie. Why?
In SHQ mode, the FE-230 records movies with VGA resolution (640 x 480 pixels) and a frame rate of 30 frames per second. Recording this much data, this quickly, requires a large amount of camera memory and a very quick write time.
Olympus’ Type M+ and Type H xD-Picture Card media are high-speed cards and are able to process this volume of information with no loss in quality. Other commercially available media, including Type M and Standard type xD-Picture Card media, are not able to do so. For this reason, this model limits movie recording in SHQ mode to 15 seconds when using media other than Type M+ or Type H cards. The 15-second restriction guarantees that the camera will be able to process the data properly and produce a smooth, error-free movie during playback.
Keep in mind that there is no restriction on movie recording length, other than the capacity of the storage media, when recording in the HQ (320 x 240 pixels) mode.

I'm not sure if you are recording in SHQ or not. Try switching to HQ (press menu, then select image quality). It solved the problem for me. Btw I got the solution of the Olympus FAQ page on their website.