Digital Handycam vs. Analog Handycam

[scott]

I have always wanted to buy Sony digital handycam, but according to my friends and looking at some of the video recorded with digital handycam, I have some doubts.

Currently I own Sony analog handycam (uses Hi 8mm video tape), and video quality is very good. The only complaint is that it is too big & heavy, and I cannot burn directly to a VCD/DVD, also I cannot share it with my family overseas.

Sony latest lineup of digital handycams has this thing called Megapixel Engine, not sure how good the video quality is compared to analog ones. The handycam is very small and light, so very tempting to buy this model.

Any comments on digital handycam? (compared to analog handycam)

 

[scott]

Any comments?

 

[kerpalz]

sony camera quality depends on ur budget...
the mega pixel engine is oni the CPU thats is the brainchild of the camera. factors affecting the quality of the pictures oso include like the senarios you are in and the lens too. as what i know, the 1800bucks and below are using level 3 Carl Zeis lens... which are oni meant for entry and below average end user. doesnt mean that its a carl lens.. its good...there are grades... if you reali wanna get a DV camera..which is better than a hi-8. yu can try getting the fatter and bulky version of sony MiniDV cameras.. most of the time they are made with 2A carl zeis lens...

 

[scott]

sony camera quality depends on ur budget...
the mega pixel engine is oni the CPU thats is the brainchild of the camera. factors affecting the quality of the pictures oso include like the senarios you are in and the lens too. as what i know, the 1800bucks and below are using level 3 Carl Zeis lens... which are oni meant for entry and below average end user. doesnt mean that its a carl lens.. its good...there are grades... if you reali wanna get a DV camera..which is better than a hi-8. yu can try getting the fatter and bulky version of sony MiniDV cameras.. most of the time they are made with 2A carl zeis lens...

I'm not refering to specific lens / image quality issue, but rather the digitized video look of a digital handycam. I notice some produces video that looks like vcd quality. The analog handycam doesn't have this issue.
I've never owned a digital handycam so I would like to know opinion from those who have one.

 

[yowch]

Digital MiniDV cams has more resolution than analog video. The video is certainly sharper and has more realistic colours. Unfortunately, consumer cams have tiny CCDs, rendering them with very poor sensitivity. In low lights, the camera software ups the gain and causes terrible grain.

Another problem is the image control. In digital cams, the edge is often over exargerated by the software to make the scene sharper. Not exactly a good thing.

Lastly, practically all home video cameras are digital! They record using CCD which the store either as analogue on tape, ordigital on tape/card/DVD.

Go for the high end digital video cameras, they are certainly sharp and nice, but very costly. Personally, I have used many home-user class video cams in different conditions. Sony is good in marketing. I'll recommend Panasonic and Canon. (I have footages from Sony, Canon and Panasonic of the same event at the same time and nobody likes the Sony video, and the Sony handycam was a $2k+ model).

 

[reachme2003]

if you only record and views them from time to time, maybe analogue may be it, but almost unheard of in these days of digital video. however, if you do some post production work eg editing, laying in sounds, effect, etc, digital is the way to go. it is a breeze.

quality wise, if you are at the consumer level, you need not bother too much.

 

[scott]

I used to have Panasonic handycam and it's malfunction after 2 years of usage. On the other hand, all my friends and family who owned a Sony handycam never have any issue. My mom's Sony handycam is almost 9 years old. Mine is 5 years old and no problem so far.

 

[yowch]

There are always lemons in any batch of whatever product. Even Nikon lenses can have dirt inside when new. My Panasonic cameras had minor repairs, but under warranty (and extended warranty) and the service is very fast (2 weeks). Sony service is not too bad.