Oracle, I know what you're talking about. The good thing with these point and shoot cameras is that they are cheap and I don't have a shutter to wear out. If I ever wanted to to this with my DSLR I'd probably buy a cheap used rebel/20d. Then I could put one of my lenses on it and not worry about the expensive camera wear. Unless I have a special use like a low light or a special focal length the point and shoot probably gives good enough quality for videos. If you finish your camera project, I'd love to see a picture of what it looks like.
Bohne, I did not try opening my F30, but I thought about it. I'd be surprised it it was very difficult. I had an old canon the broke and I took it apart. Buttons similar to what are on my F30 were easy to desolder and I could trigger them with either a simple transistor or relay. I just didn't do it because it was quicker to do the servo and this way I can use the camera as a normal camera in the future if I want to. That said I'm a little worried that these buttons may wear out because of very heavy use in this project. If these buttons become a point of failure then I'll probably do just what you suggested. The only other failure point I see as likely is the lens motor.