Factors Effecting Camcorder Video Quality
If you’ve shopped for digital camcorders you’ve probably noticed a big disparity in price. Even with cameras using the same kind of media might be 3 or 4 hundred dollars difference, for example the Canon Vixia HD and the Flip Mineo HD. So why is there such a big difference and do some things make more of a difference than other? Let’s take a look at the main factors in camcorder price.
The biggest factor is lens quality. A good lens can be the most expensive thing in the camera, but it can also have the biggest effect on quality, even more so than pixel resolution. Think about it this way 3 megapixel SLR cameras take pictures that are infinitely more sharper than a camcorder with the corresponding megapixel. Compare the Vixia line of Canon camcorders and a Canon D30 SLR, same megapixel resolution, but better pictures with the SLR. The difference is the lens on the SLR is bigger so takes in more light and because of that, is higher quality. The Vixia does have one of the highest quality lenses of the prosumer camcorders out there.
Media type also has an effect but it isn’t as big a factor. Again take a flash memory camcorder like the Vixia, it’s a high definition camcorder, but must use a compression scheme because flash memory can’t hold as much data as a hard drive (yet…). So all things being equal a flash camcorder won’t have the same resolution as a DVD or hard drive camcorder. The Vixia is such a highly rated camcorder because in it’s case all things aren’t equal. The superiority of its lens makes it superior to even most DVD and hard drive cameras.
Most cameras use a sensor with a similar resolution, usually from 3-6 megapixels, and the features are very pretty similar among cameras. So when getting a new camcorder take a look at the media type and the lens, if you’re looking for the highest video quality.
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