Old miniDV: 2 MP CCD. New miniDV: 1MP CCD Why?

Question

I purchased a Canon Optura 60 miniDV camcorder about 2 years ago. The CCD was over 2 megapixels. I need a new miniDV camcorder. So I went on the Canon website and the newer miniDV camcorder had a CCD of only over 1 megapixels. I would think that newer camcorder would be higher megapixels. Why would they make a camcorder with less megapixels?

Answer 1

You are measuring a still camera capability. Camcorders are for video - not stills.

The other "feature" to ignore is digital zoom - that is useless and should be disabled when you get the camcorder.

Things to consider that matter:

Lens size (bigger is better - lets in more light)

Imaging chip surface area (bigger is better - captures more light).

Least amount of compression applied to digital video stream (MiniDV tape is least - next are hard drive and flash memory - worst is DVD).

Mic-in jack; manual audio control. (Just because a camcorder has a mic in jack does not mean it has manual audio control, but just the mic-in jack is better than not having one. The Canon ZR800, 900 and 930 have mic in jacks but no manual audio control; the Canon HV20, HV30, Sony HDR-HC7 and HC9 have mic in jacks and manual audio control.)

Low lux rating - lower is better.

Manual controls (other than audio) - zoom, focus and iris/exposure controls.

There are pro-grade camcorders that don't take stills at all and good still cameras (SLR) that don't take video. If you want good stills, use a still camera. If you want good video, use a video camcorder.