What produces higher quality videos: An 8 megamixel digital camera, or a 3 year old MINI DV Camcorder?

Question

I;m pretty sure the Mini DV is better, but is it that noticable? Can you tell if you put one video from a camcorder and one video from a camera next to each other which one is better? Thank you

Answer 1

As stated, video clips on still cameras are generally in 640x480 resolution, and 30fps. Current model camcorders are higher resolution, and yes, better sound quality. A 3 year old mini DV camcorder probably has some better quality, but here is what the decision maker should be if you are deciding which to purchase .....

If you take a LOT of video .. esp long video, like kids concerta, sports events, and things like that, go for the camcorder. If you just want to take short video clips, and also like to have high resolution still photo's, go for the digital camera.

Another note ... some still cameras do video better than others! One to consider is the Canon Powershot S3 IS. It is a 6mp camera, but it takes the best video clips for a still camera. You can take them at the 480-x640 resolution, 30fps, and also the sound records in stereo! You can also zoom in and out while recording, and there is no discernible noise from this. The downside is the file size because it records in .avi format. Another unusual feature is a dedicated video button, so you can snap a high resolution still photo in the middle of a video clip, and edit out the brief blank frame later.

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Answer 2

Of course it depends on the camera- but the mini DV camcorder will provide better video. At least mine does- and I have a 3 year old sony mini DV and an 8Mp digital camera.

Answer 3

Very few (if any?) 8 megapixel cameras record movies with 8 megapixel frames. The movies are usually shot in 640X480 mode, which is about the same as TV, and therefore about the same as a standard camcorder. I'd still bet on the DV camcorder giving you better quality movies, and probably much better sound.

Answer 4

cameras may have more pixels, but are constrained on storage. So cameras create rather low resolution videos.

A DV camcorder should still create better videos because the bit rate of DV is much higher that the bit rate used by cameras

Answer 5

Its an easy answer. First off, things are made like crap these days and break too easily, so it forces people to keep buying a new product over and over again. Second, things back in the day were actually built with real quality and were designed to last a long time. My super nintendo works better than these newer game systems, and other older things that I have work better than the new counterparts. I agree with you about film. Analog film is way way better than digital film. I

Answer 6

probably the camcorder.
but the camera video is pretty darn good.