Video Image Quality

[Skyman]

I have tried three times to write a suitable responce to John's question about digital zoom in this thread so i have decided to throw it open to everyone in the digital video forum. what is important in terms of getting the best quality out of your digital video cameras, and why is it so easy to overlook or forget these things?
I am thinking in terms of:
Digital Zoom
Gain
Video Format
Lens Quality
colour correction
editing
output
viewing medium
and anything else you might think is relevant. I know this is a very broad list but i think it is difficult to separate many of these topics as they have an interconnected effect on image quality that is difficult for many people to understand.

[MarcusK]

Great thread!

Well for Digital Zoom, i think its the same with still photography as in video. Its just not for pro work or even amateur work. I really don't think there is any need to go deep into this. it pretty much is like blowing up a pic in PS, with a bit of tweaking to hide the pixels.

As for the other elements they really are unending...and truly depends on what is required.

IMHO, The more control you have in any of these elements the better the camera. of course this again depends on what it is you need as well as the budget.

My quick input regarding the listed elements would be this:

Gain is great for low light, its like pushing a film in still photo...meaning the more "Gain" the more "Grain".

Video formats range from consumer to prosumer levels, personally i would say 35mm is the best (cinema) which we are not dicussing here, but then you have from least to best quality: hi-8 < MiniDV < HD MiniDV still offers a lot of great results and I don't think will be out for quite a while.

Lens Quality I don't much about so i will wait for someone's input!

The rest i believe become part of another issue, Manual Control as opposed to automatic. Some cameras in the consumer line of products do not allow any control or limited control over color correction as well as white balance, shutter speed, aperture...etc. The more control the more YOU will like the result! (but then again that's just me)

Audio is also an important factor, you need to be able to record audio over previously shot material without having to erase any previous material. i.e. get the ability to record audio on seperate channels.

Whatever you can do in post does not depend on the camera, but if you are to want any easy editing in camera, i guess this will also be somewhat of cool feature (although i wouldn't use it)


Really, i personally believe the same elements and qualifications we look for in any Still Photo camera (mainly digital) will still apply in Digital Video, there will be some extras in DV that are different, but all in all its pretty close!

Any ideas?