Sony DCR-SR47 60GB 60 optical zoom camcorder

[newbe tech]

Consumer Reports rates this camcorder as good in all the following areas: picture quality, low lighting, image stabilization, ease of use and audio.
I'd like feedback as to whether that is an accurate assessment.
The JVC GZMG21U camcorder performs poorly in picture quality, low lighting, and audio, so I was wondering if this would be a good buy.
Thanks

[guns1inger]

Low light performance in all consumer camcorders is a relative thing. I have never seen low light performance that I would class as good, just varying scales of poor to really, really poor. There is no substitute for light.

[edDV]

"Low Lighting" would be relative to the others tested.

Any small lens + 1/6 inch sensor camcoreder will suck for low light. This one may be better than the others tested.

You need light or larger glass and/or larger sensor.

[newbe tech]

Thanks for your input. If you can' t afford a professional camcorder, is there any consumer camcorders with larger lenses/sensors that would do well with good image quality in the HD camcorder models?

[edDV]

Thanks for your input. If you can' t afford a professional camcorder, is there any consumer camcorders with larger lenses/sensors that would do well with good image quality in the HD camcorder models?

If you can't afford a better lens and larger sensor then you need external light.

What is your shooting environment?

The lens+sensor cost goes up rapidly. Even the TV news guys put major lights on their $20K cameras to avoid noise.

[newbe tech]

Concerning the environment I shoot in- a light wood-paneled mobilehome, no overhead lighting.
Even putting the subjects in natural light by full spectrum bulb, using a tripod, didn't improve the image quality of still images, they were grainy when printed out or when I made a slide show.
That is why I was hoping for a consumer camcorder that performed better than the JVCGZMG21U 20GB HD camcorder even using natural lighting to illumine the subjects. The video was some better light wise but audio is still poor. I'm a novice so don't know if using the manual settings would improve any of this, don't know where to begin in using those controls for my environment.

[edDV]

camcorderinfo.com tests low light capability of camcorders but the small sensor models don't differ that much.

You need to test some lighting options.

To boost my livingroom background lighting for camcorder shooting I use one of these 5' IKEA lights with 4x 100W equivalent CFL dimmable bulbs in one corner. If needed I put another light on the camcorder.



For audio, wiil that camcorder accept an external mic? I don't see a mic jack in the specs.

Good audio requires both an external mic and manual audio level control.

[newbe tech]

Thanks for the information on lighting, no I don't see any place for an external mike. I thought it would be good but that was in hindsight, I didn't know a whole lot about camcorders and bought it prior to asking advice on forums. Thanks for the picture too on lighting.

[edDV]

There are two issues for simple camcorder or still camera indoor lighting, one is background or fill light, the other is lighting the subject to provide contrast with the background. A bright widely dispersed fill light should be adjusted to minimize noise in the dark areas. You are essentially setting a minimum black level. The camera light or other light directed at the subject determines the peak white level when the camera self adjusts. The idea for indoor lighting is to control the contrast with the room fill light dimmer, while the camera adjusts for peak white on the subject.

Good exposure is more about lighting than the type of camera you are using. See this example. http://www.lowel.com/edu/single_person.2.html

[newbe tech]

I thought I was doing good at using the natural lighting to disperse the darkness around the subjects, the video taken of the same subjects came out clearer than still images, that is what made me think the quality of the still images weren't very good. When I printed a picture it wasn't sharp.
It could be too that setting the manual controls would have helped with the still images but I don't know where to start setting those.

[guns1inger]

Manual settings vary from camera to camera, with some giving you little to no control, or only a series of presets, while others give you complete manual control of all functions.

The two main settings to start playing with would be the aperture - wider or more open means more light getting captured - and the shutter speed - slower means more light getting captured. If you use slower shutter speeds then you will have to use a tripod.

Other options that can also be looked at are the ISO setting - faster means more light captured, but usually also more grain - and shooting in RAW format and doing your processing in photoshop. RAW format means getting what was on the camera sensor, without any of the post processing the camera itself normally does (which can be a lot). Not all cameras off RAW output.

[newbe tech]

Thanks for the information on beginning to use manual controls. I will try to use them and see if that improves my still images.