better optical zoom or higher megapixel

Acts7 wrote on 6/6/2003, 12:04 PM
when choosing a miniDV
you have choice of a
22X optical zoom with 680,000 pixel CCD
or 16 X 1.3 megapixel CCD

how will this affect VIDEO quality
still image is a concern but not as much as video
I have read review that say one camera I want is grainy indoors (the one with 680,000 pixels)

would the 1.3 megapixel CCD help this?

Comments

JackHughs wrote on 6/6/2003, 12:58 PM
Absent any information to the contrary, I would tend to avoid "megapixel" DV camcorders. It's a real estate issue.

The performance of light-sensing cells on a CCD chip is inversely proportional to the density of the cells - more cells per square inch equals lower performance per cell.

JackHughs
Acts7 wrote on 6/6/2003, 1:08 PM
so then a 1/4 inch 680 K CCD is better than a 1/4 inch 1.3 M pixel CCD?
and if so is a 1/6 inch 680 K ccd better than a 1/4 inch 1.3 M pixel CCD
riredale wrote on 6/6/2003, 5:50 PM
If you look at professional broadcast camera equipment, you find larger imaging CCDs, so one could generally assume that a larger CCD will, in general, perform better than a smaller one. Performance is dependent on many variables, however, and image sensor area is just one of them.

Pro gear is spec'ed to death, so if you're in that market I'm sure you can find all sorts of useful info from the vendors.
Bear wrote on 6/6/2003, 8:21 PM
I would go with the higher megapixel. The zoom is not that useful at that range. You would have to be on a real good tripod in still air to use much over 10x anyway.
drex wrote on 6/12/2003, 6:23 PM
Go with the mega ccd.you will get better video,not a big diff but it will be better,manufactor makes a diff to.sony.panasonic and canon,who knows with jvc,i come from this part of the industry..jackhughs is on the right track.you need to find out how many pixels are being used for video..you should be recording in wide mode most of the time anyway..
mikkie wrote on 6/12/2003, 6:40 PM
As Jack & Drex wrote... adding only to check out the color representation of each camera - something not always included in reviews that varies by camera model, and is IMO much harder to fix in post.