Sony Jvc Video
What is the best video camera each one of these companies have to offer: Sony, Panasonic, JVC, Canon, Aipteck?
I am particularly interested in picture quality (nothing else). Especially the pixel count and perhaps the speed at which it records which will affect the quality when it is put into slow motion.
Well, you can rule out Aiptek… they only make low-quality toy camcorders.
Pixel count isn’t that important for video in camcorders, because there are only a few options, and they’re tied to the standards. Standard definition camcorders record at 720×480 (NTSC) or 720×576 (PAL), regardless of the size of the sensor in pixels (many consumer camcorders have many pixels, to improve color and give you a better digital still camera function). HD camcorders recorder at either 1280×720, 1440×1080, or 1920×1080 (the latter only on tapeless camcorders).
Very few camcorders have any sort of slow motion mode. You get slow motion when you shoot at one rate (in frames per second) and replay that slower.. but if you replay much below 24 fps, the video will look jerky. So faster fps = better slo-mo. And you will find, in the few cameras that do slo-mo at a consumer price, the pixel count does start to drop.
Some pro models offer full video at 60fps, which lest you do 1/2 rate slo-mo at full video quality, as long as your flash cards hold out. But unless you’re thinking of spending $5000 or more, this is not for you.
But don’t fret… 60fps is starting to enter the consumer world. One such option is the Sanyo Xacti 1010. This is an HD camcorder that records in MPEG-4 on flash. It’s not the absolute best quality around, but it’s decent. And it can record at 720p (1280×720) at a full 60fps. This is under $700 online.
To go beyond that on a consumer budget, there are a few weird choices. Sony offers a very short burst high-speed mode on some of their camcorders. They call this “Smooth Slow” recording mode, and it can go to 120fps-200fps, depending on the camera model. This is supported in both pro/prosumer (HVR-V1, HVR-Z7, others) and consumer (HDR-CX7, HDR-HC3, others) models. This is always at a much lower resolution, good for YouTube but little else. And you’re limited to bursts of about 3 seconds real-time.
Another interesting option isn’t a camcorder at all, but Casio’s new digital still camera, the Exlim Pro EX-F1 (about $1000) http://www.exilim.com/intl/ex_f1/. Most digital still cameras these days have a video mode, but it’s usually at best standard-def at 30fps, maybe a tad better. But the EX-F1 has several high-frame rate video modes. It can actually shoot near SD-quality (512 × 384) at 300 fps, 432×192 at 600 fps, or 336×96 at 1200 fps.. it also does standard High-def. And this is continuous, up to memory or file limits, not just short bursts. If you’re really serious about high-speed filming on a consumer budget, this is your best bet.
Head cleaning a 3/4″ Utmatic Sony JVC VCR Beta SP Panasonic