Pixiq

You are interested in creating videos but aren’t sure whether you should buy a video-capable DSLR or a camcorder. As with any camera purchase, the choice depends on what features you think are important, your personal preferences, and what kind of videos you want to make. The following list includes requirements that you should consider when purchasing a camera for video and how to deal with features that might be missing. This list can also help you decide whether a still camera with video or a dedicated video camcorder is the best choice for you.

Convenience

If a camera is not convenient and easy to use, then you probably won’t use it. Is it comfortable to hold? Are the video features easy to access and understand? This is one area that is subjective but also very important.

Still Cameras: It is certainly convenient to have video and still photography capabilities in the same camera. A further question, though, is how convenient is it to set up and use that video capability? This will vary considerably from camera to camera. Video in DSLRs is still being refined as camera manufacturers learn how best to deal with it; you will undoubtedly see vast improvements to these cameras in the future.

Camcorders: There’s no question that a video camcorder is designed first and foremost for video, so all of the features tend to be optimized for video use. In addition, a camcorder is engineered as a single, compact unit. The lens is matched and carefully integrated into the camcorder’s design.

Focal Length Range

One thing to consider with any type of video camera is that you have access to a range of focal lengths that is appropriate for the type of subjects that you wish to record. If you want to make the next great wildlife video, you must have very long focal lengths, i.e., big telephotos.

Still Cameras: With a DSLR, you gain the ability to use a whole range of focal lengths because you can change lenses. (The downside is that if you don’t have these lenses, then you have to buy them.) Being able to choose from a lens system is an important consideration for work with video when you need specific focal lengths or types of lenses.

Camcorders: Nearly all commonly available camcorders have non-interchangeable lenses. Your focal length choices are thus limited to the lens that is attached to the camera. There are accessory lenses that attach to the front of the camcorder’s lens to give you a wider angle of view or increase your focal length to a degree, but the effects are limited.

Audio Input

If you want to record high-quality audio with your video, then you must be able to connect a separate microphone to your camera. Audio is just as important as the visual in video because they are so interconnected. Good audio can make a so-so video “look” good, and bad audio can make a great video “look” worse. We think that one of the most important features a camera should have is an audio input jack of some sort.

Still Cameras: This is one area that camera manufacturers have not paid as much attention to as they should. Adding even a simple microphone for video recording can make a huge difference in getting better audio. Check to make sure the DSLR offers the ability to connect an external microphone.

Camcorders: Most camcorders have an input jack for an external microphone. In addition, some offer more sophisticated audio features, like manual level controls.

Audio Monitoring

Along with the ability to add a microphone to your camera, it is very helpful to plug in earphones so that you better discern what is actually being recorded with your video.

Still Cameras: Here’s another area that camera manufacturers have not given as much attention to as they should. All cameras should have this capability, but often they don’t. So make sure you check the camera’s audio monitoring capabilities, especially if this feature is important for you.

Camcorders: Most camcorders include a plug for headphones so you can listen to the audio that you’re recording while shooting video.

Quiet

Still cameras often had video capabilities added to them without thought to how noisy the cameras or lenses might be. A noisy lens transmits noise directly to a built-in microphone and can also be picked up by any nearby microphone. You may discover that you cannot use certain lenses with a video-capable camera because the lenses were not designed for cameras that record sound.

Still Cameras: If you have a still camera, make sure you can attach a separate microphone; the built-in mic will often pick up the noise from lenses as they adjust the aperture or focus, or during image stabilization.

Camcorders: Camcorders are designed from scratch for video, so their operation and handling tends to be very quiet.

Handling

Photographers often debate which camera is the best camera without taking into account that a camera will handle differently for different people. Camera handling is very important with any type of photography, but it is especially so with video because you must be able to handle that camera over long periods of time as the video is recorded. This is quite different from holding the camera steady for just a few seconds while you capture a still.

Still Cameras: Still cameras are designed to be held in front of the face, but only for short periods of time while shooting a photograph. They are not designed to be held comfortably for the extended periods of time needed to shoot video. While some cameras are better than others for this, you may find that you need to buy additional support equipment to help you better handle your gear.

Camcorders: Camcorders are definitely more ergonomically designed for long shooting periods and they have a history of design to make them work optimally for that purpose.

Ability to Change Settings

Some of the early DSLRs had the ability to shoot video, but you had very little control over the settings such as exposure or focus, especially once recording began. Some inexpensive camcorders also limit how much control you have over settings during recording.

Still Cameras: Still photographers are familiar with changing camera settings. At first, camera manufacturers simply added video to the cameras without adding the ability to change settings, so that some cameras had very little control when shooting video. They received so many complaints about this that they have worked to make cameras more controllable in all settings, including during video recording, and have released firmware upgrades to improve the video recording settings.

Camcorders: Camcorders vary in how much you are able to control camera settings. Most camcorders allow some setting changes so you can refine the look of your video, especially when lighting is difficult.

Image Stabilization

Image stabilization was originally developed for video and has always had a strong influence there. Image stabilization makes handheld video look much, much better. It smoothes out the bumps that make handheld video shaky and sometimes hard to watch.

Still Cameras: Image stabilization works in two ways—either in the lens or in the camera body. Nearly all DSLRs have the capability of one or the other. Both work, but it seems that the in-lens stabilization works a little bit better. That means that every lens must have stabilization for you to consistently have stabilization. If your camera has in-camera stabilization, then this is a non-issue.

Camcorders: Most camcorders have image stabilization because it is a helpful feature for shooting video.

Filters

The ability to use filters is an important consideration for any video camera. Polarizing filters, neutral density filters, and graduated neutral density filters all have useful applications with video.

Still Cameras: A key feature of all DSLR lenses is that they have filter threads so that you can screw filters onto the front of the lenses. This is available on most lenses.

Camcorders: Manufacturers have not always included the ability to attach a filter to the front of a camcorder lens. If you are buying a camcorder, look specifically for this feature.

Tapeless Recording

The advantage of tapeless recording—i.e., recording to a memory card—is that recording is done nonlinearly. This means that you have access to any scene on the card at any time without having to rewind or fast forward. And you don’t have to wind to the end of the tape to start recording.

Still Cameras: All DSLRs record video tapelessly.

Camcorders: Camcorders can record video to tape, to optical disc (DVD), and to memory cards or internal memory. Neither tape nor disc recording is really convenient or easy in the editing process because they require extra steps to optimize, use, and edit the footage.

Added Factors

Additional factors come into play with different types of cameras.

Sensor Size: All DSLRs use a sensor that is physically larger than the sensors commonly available in camcorders, and give you more control over depth of field than the smaller sensors in a camcorder.

Sensor Count: Digital still cameras use a single sensor to capture video. While the lowest-priced camcorders also use one sensor, there are reasonably priced camcorders that use three: one for each color channel (R, G, and B). These improve color and tonality.

Large, Tilting LCD: Only some still cameras are equipped with an articulating LCD screen, but nearly all camcorders have a large, tilting LCD that makes it very easy to see what is being shot from a variety of viewing angles.

Rolling Shutter Effects: A DSLR has a mechanical shutter for taking stills, but this shutter is not used when shooting video. Instead, the image sensor itself acts as a shutter. Rows of pixels are electronically blanked in sequence, rolling from the top of the image sensor down. When objects in the scene move rapidly or you pan the camera quickly, the rolling shutter effect will give a wavy look or artifact to the motion. Some describe this as objects behaving as if they were made of Jell-O. Some camcorders have a mechanical shutter to eliminate rolling shutter effects.

Optimization: A still camera is optimized to capture still pictures, not video. A video camcorder is designed specifically to capture video.

Timecode: The timecode is a time stamp that is automatically created with each digital video file. This won’t affect many photographers, but for those who need timecodes for editing, some camcorders include this and most still cameras do not.

Autofocus: Camcorders offer autofocus technology that allows the camera to adjust focus while recording. Many current DSLRs will autofocus only before you start shooting—though this is another area that manufacturers are working to improve.