How to choose a video camera
Whether you want to capture special moments at a wedding, record your latest daredevel action, or simply want to keep track of what is happening on your land, this handy guide will help you choose the perfect video camera for your needs.
Types of video camera
Camcorders
Record everything from holidays to family celebrations.
The perfect choice for everyday use
Professional cameras
Ideal for recording company parties, news reports, television programs, films, commercials, etc.
For professional-level picture quality
Action Cameras
With their miniature size, these cams are ideal for recording extreme sports.
For adrenaline lovers and adventurers
360° cameras
Record and share 360-degree videos
These cameras offer amazing panoramic videos
Dashboard cameras
Record traffic conditions and film journeys.
Can provide evidence in the even of an incident
Drones
Drone cameras capture scenes from unusual angles.
For bird's-eye-view filming
IP cameras
IP cameras are designed to monitor and protect your property.
Monitor exteriors and interiors
Glossary - Video cameras
Lens
The lens directs and focusses light rays onto a camera's sensor chip. It is the most important part of a camera, and often also the most expensive. As a result, its characteristics significantly affect the overall quality of the photos and the camera itself.
An important parameter is the wide angle range of the lens, which is the maximum angle that a camera can capture. It is expressed in 35mm format. Wide-angle lenses are considered those with a wide angle range of less than 35mm, while ordinary cameras have a wide angle range of about 40mm.
Sensor
The sensor is one of the most important parts of a camera as it greatly affects the final image quality. Important factors to consider include the size of the sensor as well as the number of pixels. Although more pixels generally means better image quality, the size of the sensor is also important. Generally, if you have two cameras with the same number of pixels, but one has a larger sensor than the other, the one with a larger sensor should produce better-quality images.
Important parameters
- Sensor Size [cm] - the bigger the size, the better the resulting video
- Sensor Resolution [MP]
Basic cameras are often equipped with an 800,000-pixel chip.
The three-chip design is common in professional and semi-professional cameras. The three chips cooperate with the glass prism, which divides light into three directions. Each chip is in responsible for one part of the basic RGB colour spectrum (green, red, and blue).
CMOS sensors provide better, truer colour dynamics. While CMOS sensors don't produce the overall quality of three-chip sensors, they do offer better performance in poor light conditions.
Resolution
Resolution indicates the number of pixels that make up an image or video. A lot of modern devices are equipped with Full HD resolution (1920 x 1080), which is suitable for display on large screen TVs or monitors. Higher resolution provides smoother images with more detail.
Glossary