Video quality is the most important feature of a camcorder. Why else would you spend the money other than to faithfully reproduce what your eyes can see? Unfortunately, technology hasn't become as refined as your eyes, at least not yet. You can determine the quality of the footage shot by your camcorder with a little time and a good eye for detail.
Instructions
1. Check online for consumer Web sites and read the reviews by the professionals and past consumers. They will have field-tested feedback to provide you.
2. View footage of a still life taken under good lighting conditions, preferably under studio lights. You want the light source to be as neutral as possible to avoid coloring the results.
3. Compare the footage to the real thing. The white objects should show up true to life, not too blue, not too yellow. If the white stuff looks funny, use the white balance control to correct the image. If your camcorder doesn't have manual control for white balance, then you're stuck with the image as is.
4. Look at the colors in the image. They should be as close in value and brightness to the real thing without being over the top and fake. If your camcorder allows you to make adjustments to the color saturation, you can fix or at least lessen any problems here.
5. Check the image exposure. The key thing here is the ability to see small details on the image, so you will want to have items with fine detail in your still life.
6. Notice the dynamic range. The reflective objects in the still life give you a good indicator of this. Are the reflections crisp? How white are the whites and how black are the blacks?
7. Notice any blotches or glitches in the image. Does the picture look grainy? This is called noise and is the hallmark of bottom-end camcorders.
Tags: still life, your camcorder, real thing, white balance, your eyes