I am super new in camcorders so I bought myself an entry level Sony Camcorder DCR-HC28E. I took some videos in my house during the day time. I then plug the camcorder directly to my Bravia using a component cable (Yellow, white and red). I shoot at SP mode. The video appears to be extremely grainy. Its worse than taking a picture at ISO 3200!!! The noise is incredible! Is it because of the camera? Can't be compression cos I havent done anything to it yet? Any take on this? Why does this happen? Thanx.
Why do I get grainy video?
- Thread starter Siraj
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Have you check on your " GAIN " mode ? could have set to 9 or 18db that caused the
Grainy looks !
gil
Digital zoom? Low lighting that led to activation of gain? Try shooting outdoors to determine if its the camera is indeed malfunctioning.
Hey thanx for the replies. How do I adjust the "Gain" mode? I don't use digital zoom. It may be due to low light. I do not have the same problem if I take outdoor video though it is not as sharp as I wish for. In fact it looks rather soft..not crisp at all. Could it be this 'gain' thing? How to adjust? Under which menu? Sorry of my ignorance.
I think as its a consumer model. It will have auto iris and gain for low light condition.
You might want to use lighting for low light condition.
Hope that help.
malcom7373
New Member
HI,
from what I know, generally for indoor. Most of our consumer models are usually in auto mode. It depends on the settings.
Say, if you have got no lighting, try setting the whitebalance to manual and go for manual setting. If not, check your manual exposure mode and see if it has been pre-set to anything.
As for grainy, are you referring to the horizontal lines? The gain is one of the factor. The other is the type of tape you are using like old or new, same manufacture? Hope these helps. I do not use sony but have seen good shots taken from lower level sony camocrders from yours.
from what I know, generally for indoor. Most of our consumer models are usually in auto mode. It depends on the settings.
Say, if you have got no lighting, try setting the whitebalance to manual and go for manual setting. If not, check your manual exposure mode and see if it has been pre-set to anything.
As for grainy, are you referring to the horizontal lines? The gain is one of the factor. The other is the type of tape you are using like old or new, same manufacture? Hope these helps. I do not use sony but have seen good shots taken from lower level sony camocrders from yours.
your camcorder has various scene modes. take your camcorder off program auto and try the Sunset & Moon mode usually shown with a crescent moon symbol on the top right of the icon. don't mistake this mode for the NightShot mode which is for total darkness.
your low light scene will improve but you will lose out in the tele side of the zoom as it will not focus. the reason is this mode is meant for night scenery so it's meant to be used on wide angle.
you may also lose detail in the shadow area as your camcorder has a lux 5 rating and single CCD.
your low light scene will improve but you will lose out in the tele side of the zoom as it will not focus. the reason is this mode is meant for night scenery so it's meant to be used on wide angle.
you may also lose detail in the shadow area as your camcorder has a lux 5 rating and single CCD.
The tape I used was new. However using a different brand mini dv tapes affects the quality of video? The video is grainy all over. More like digital noise.
sgvideoman
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sgvideoman
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Cheap consumer video cams usually produce grainy videos when shot under low light conditions. I had this too when I was using the $600 JVC entry level consumer video cam. It was too cheap. Nevertheless, it produces better videos when shot in sunny outdoors. All consumer video cams are like that.
There is nothing you can do about it (on the camera itself) except to create better lighting conditions. Or use a video light.
I went out to shoot video outdoors, it makes a lot of difference! Video is very crisp and clear... guess really need to invest in a better camcorder. I used a Sony HDR-HC1E and shot at DV mode instead of HD. I compared it to my cheapo one...DUH! haha the difference is obvious. Is it because or the lens of the CCD thingy?
jaegersing
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It could be the CCD is noisier, or it could be that the auto exposure is not very smart and is boosting the gain instead of opening the iris. Or you haven't by any chance activated an ND (Neutral Density) filter setting on the cam? This would also cause a super high gain setting.
The DCR-HC28E has only a 1/6" CCD, pretty small for anything low light. The HDR-HC1E has a 1/3" CMOS, far better for low light usage. At the moment, larger sensors will provide for better low light performance. However, not all large sensors automatically mean better low light performance, there are other considerations such as sensor design, software and hardware as well.
How do I access ND Filter in my camcorder? Or is there ever such an option to adjust in such a low end camcorder?
Hey parchiao, you seem to know quite a bit about these camcorders. Do you know of any that can be used reasonably to capture video of people in our usual HDB rooms clearly? Not too expensive please maybe those thats around 2k plus? The lower the better of course! Or should I just invest in some lighting?
sgvideoman
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Neutral density filters are only available in professional camcorders.
sgvideoman
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A 2007 series HDV camcorder (consumer class) with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS). Plus a video light.
jaegersing
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You might be right, but I think I remember a couple of years ago seeing a friend with a low-end Sony camcorder that had a menu option to switch in/out an ND filter. That's why I mentioned this as a possibility. If it's menu activated then I don't even understand how it could work, but that's what I remember.
Nah, I don't really know more about camcorders, I just help those who know less about them. Most of these camcorders that we tend to buy are really not for professional use, so there are always some downsides to each model. Click onto this link, take your time to scroll through the comments about low light performance for each and every camcorder and you will get a fairly good idea about what's good and what's not. It seems to me that there are not many good consumer camcorders around.
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