Saturday, May 4, 2013

Digital camera with video recording optical zoom?

Q. Could someone tell me whether there is a digital camera that takes great pictures and has a video recording feature with optical zoom? I am aware that the video recording on a digital camera is not as good as a camcorder. I just want a 2 in 1 so that I can take pictures and short video clips. I am torn between Canon SD780is, Canon SD880is, and I think some Panasonic DMC's have the feature. Any additional ideas would be helpful.

A. I have the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 and you can zoom while recording and it takes great pictures. It records HD videos.
I would recommend it.


How to adjust the lighting on a digital camera video recording?
Q. So I recorded a video on my digital camera, unfortunately the lighting was not the greatest. Is there anyway to enhance the video to make it brighter?

A. There is hope.

First off, the great thing about digital is that it's easier to get a good image from a dark one than it is from one that's overblown. The reason being is this: the sensors on a digital camera only soak up so much light before they turn to white. If a pixel is recorded as white (blown out, zebra striped, etc.), there is absolutely no way of bringing it back down to a color.

When shooting film, the exact is opposite. A bit off topic but good to know.

So, unless what you shot is completely black, and even if it is, there's sure to be some data in those pixels, and data in pixels is a good thing! Having data in a pixel means it recorded the image. However, finding that image requires the proper software.

A basic editing program with decent image control is Final Cut Pro. I would assume Windows Movie Maker and most video editing programs would have the most elementary of controls as well. What you want to look for is:

1.) Levels - If you have the option of working with levels, you can bring the blacks / shadows up to a visible range, while leaving the midtones and highlights relatively untouched.

2.) Brightness / Exposure - If you have the option of working with brightness or exposure, you can boost the blacks / shadows up to a visible level, but keep in mind anything that looks good now will become overblown or white.

3.) Saturation - If you have the option of adjusting saturation, this may be a good step after adjusting the light levels of your image. Usually when you boost the 'brightness' of an image, it also becomes more washed out, which can be countered by boosting the saturation until you get a natural look.

4.) Noise Reduction - This adjustment would be the icing on the cake. When you boost those shadows, you'll quickly notice that they're very grainy. Noise reduction helps to lower than grainy look, but also tends to slightly blur an image. Worth a try at the very least.

In the future, there are a few things you can do to avoid a repeat. Look for these settings on your camera:

-F Stop - rare for low end cameras, but if you have control of the F stop, you can adjust the brightness and depth of field (area of picture that's blurred or clear) by increasing or decreasing the numbers. The smaller the number, the brighter the picture. Also, the smaller the number, the less depth of field you have. This is also known as aperture.

-ISO / film speed - Film speed or ISO is how quickly the sensor records the image. This affects the amount of light necessary to light a scene. A lower ISO (200) is slower to absorb light, but will give you less grain or noise in your video. A higher ISO (1600) will be easier to light with little light, but will also be much more grainy (noise).

Hope that helps!


I'm looking for a 12 mp minimum, HD video recording digital camera?
Q. I'm looking for a digital camera with HD video recording capability.
I want it to have a descent optical zoom, a minimum of 12 mega pixels and good recording capabilities at night time (and photo).
What kind of camera/make should I look for? Any suggestions?

A. Megapixels means nothing these days.. do you print out on A2? No? Good then you don't need more then 8 Megapixels

Right that said a good lens does matters. Good glass is so nice to have! And of course looking for image quality always important sometimes it is better to invest in a more limited model with better image quality because.. well you want the best right?

Night time recording? What is your budget? The point is that the laws of nature don't change to make a picture or a video you need LIGHT! Raising ISO' s will only get you so far..


I guess a DSLR could, it has a nice big sensor so low noise and coupled with the right lens [in your case a wide aperture prime] it would give relative noise free images and video at night. Do buy one with an external sound jack though because the in build microphones are usually pretty good at catching wind noise.

So most basic DSLR with HD video + Prime Lens + Tripod [really you are going to need it] and the basic set of memory cards and batteries. Oh and of course an external Microphone.. mmm $1100?

You know a HD video camera is cheaper.. but won't make as nice still shots ;)





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