{"id":11029,"date":"2014-10-22T14:58:47","date_gmt":"2014-10-22T19:58:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.videoproductiontips.com\/?p=11029"},"modified":"2023-09-06T17:46:54","modified_gmt":"2023-09-06T22:46:54","slug":"comparing-image-quality-of-different-video-cameras-what-factors-are-important","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.videoproductiontips.com\/comparing-image-quality-of-different-video-cameras-what-factors-are-important\/","title":{"rendered":"Comparing Image Quality of Different Video Cameras: What Factors Are Important?"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post examines all the factors that go into video image quality and shows the differing results from various types of cameras.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"woman<\/a>“What kind of video camera should I use to get the best image?” is one of the most frequent questions I hear.<\/p>\n

There are hundreds of video cameras on the market, or perhaps I should say hundreds of devices that shoot video, since all of them are not actually cameras. \u00a0 \u00a0Sometimes trying to choose one can be terribly confusing.<\/p>\n

On top of sheer volume, it’s hard to separate the hype from the facts. \u00a0I hear many claims that an expensive video camera is simply unnecessary these days; a cheap one will do just fine. \u00a0Is that true? \u00a0Yes and no.<\/p>\n

First, it completely depends on how you are going to use the camera and what sort of quality your project demands. \u00a0Not all video projects need to be Hollywood-perfect, and sometimes budget and ease-of-use take priority.<\/p>\n

Other projects and videographers simply demand the best quality possible, and nothing less will do. Cheap cameras can do wonderful things, but they are still no match for expensive cameras when your expectations, and budget, are high.<\/p>\n

\"low<\/a>
Even under extremely low light, this picture has fairly good clarity and tone. It was taken with the Nikon D5200, an F-mount DSLR camera with a 24.1-megapixel DX-format CMOS image sensor that costs about $900 new.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

IT’S MORE THAN JUST THE NUMBER OF PIXELS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Often, the resolution or other technical specs of an inexpensive camera will be comparable to a higher-end camera, but as a lifelong videographer, I am here to tell you that resolution is not the end all and be all of a video camera’s capacity.<\/p>\n

Having said that, ALL video cameras perform better with quality lighting<\/a>. \u00a0You can not completely make up for sloppy technique just by paying a small fortune for your camera. \u00a0However, as the picture of the candles below shows, even good lighting is not enough for some of the pocket cams.<\/p>\n

\"shot<\/a>
I took this shot of my homemade candles with a pocket camera, the Kodak Zi8. The picture is badly blurred, even though I used a diffused 1,000 watt light, which should be plenty. \u00a0This camera simply can not get a good still picture unless you are outside in full sun. The image sensor in this camera is a tiny 1\/2.5″ CMOS and gets 5.3 Megapixels. \u00a0If the sensor were bigger, the image would be better even if the megapixels were not increased. \u00a0Of course, then it would not be a pocket camera.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"This<\/a>
This terribly blurry shot of me singing karaoke was taken with an older model Samsung Android cell phone. The person who took it used the flash, but even that did not provide nearly enough light to get a sharp image. Oh well. We can say that the blur shows how fast I was dancing! \u00a0The flash only has a range of about 2-3 feet \u00a0to be fully effective. She was about 6 feet away.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

QUALITY GOES BEYOND RESOLUTION AND MEGAPIXELS<\/h3>\n

Don’t be fooled into thinking resolution is the end all and be all to picture quality. \u00a0It’s not. \u00a0It’s probably the single biggest factor, but the lens quality, the camera’s ability to handle low light and the image sensor size are among the many factors that are also important.<\/p>\n

Camera advertisements tend to brag exclusively about pixel quantity so it’s easy to get the impression it is the only thing that matters.<\/p>\n

Statistics bear out the fact that an increase in resolution and megapixels leads to increased sales.<\/p>\n

One of my goals here at VPT is to give you the entire story, not just bits and pieces. \u00a0Advertisements of course only tell you the GOOD stuff. Here at VPT, I rebel against that to provide you what you really need to know. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

\"nikon<\/a>
This is the Nikon D5200 HDSLR, which was used to take several of the example shots on this page.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Beyond high resolution, the best camera images also have superior:<\/p>\n