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Digital Video Cameras: Background Information
Home video has gone digital. The current generation of mini-DV camcorders produce all-digital data that you can download to your mac or pc, edit, and then write back to a fresh tape without losing quality as you copy and manipulate the video.
Digital Video or DV cameras are the newest and most reasonably priced solution for producing video.
Megapixel:
The term megapixel means 1,000,000+ pixels. More pixels mean higher resolution, better quality, as well as a physically larger picture and a file that takes up a large amount of disk storage space. Older Sony Mavica cameras take pictures in 640 x 480 mode, which is 640 pixels wide and 480 pixels high (307,200 pixels or .3 megapixels).Computer screens normally display at 72 pixels per inch, where as most printers print at 300 pixels per inch. The Mavica’s lower resolution means that you cannot print a film-quality 8”x10” photo with this camera, although the images look fine on a computer screen.
Price is dependent on features / accessories and quality of lens.
Terms to Know:
- Mini-DV Tapes: These tiny cassette tapes fit easily in your palm and can be found in the Electronics section of most big-name stores
- Memory Cards: Miniscule and super-light, memory cards are designed to hold ever-increasing amounts of data in a conveniently small form
- USB: This type of cable connects easily to most computers, making it ideal for transferring data from other electronic media.
- Firewire: Even faster than USB cables, this type of cable was pioneered by Mac and is now widely available.