On Wed, 15 May 2002 16:03:58 -0400, "Dr. Judith Mazza"
>I see that many of the Sony camcorders have their minimum lux rating as 7
>(unless using Nightshot). How well does this work out in normal ambient room
>lighting?
In a bright room, a Sony 7-lux rating is OK, but in a normal
room illuminated at night with just a couple of lamps, it
would be inadequate except quite close to a reasonably
bright lamp. BTW, the Sony *imaging types* (which include
one 7-lux rated type) are compared in three different
lighing conditions, with frame-grabs, at:
www.David-Ruether-Photography.com/camcorder--comparison.htm
>I currently have a Sony Hi-8 camera which has a minumum lux of 3 and from
>time to time I have needed to adjust the exposure when I am indoors. One of
>my main uses for such a camera is when I do genealogy interviews of
>relatives...they are often elderly and indoors, so this feature is an
>important one.
It is hard to find one-CCD Mini-DV camcorders that produce
both high image quality, and also have good low-light
range. The TRV-900 3-CCD model was a good alternative
(around $1500), since its low-light range was very good.
It has been discontinued, though... If the 3-lux Hi-8
was marginal, the 7-lux Mini-DV would not do without
dropping the shutter speed to 1/15th, turning off the
stabilizer, and using a trick with manual exposure to
restore color if you are at maximum gain. Alternative:
add light (large, to the side works well), or use the
"nightshot" mode (with B&W, to lose the "toothpaste
green" IR color), but this results in odd skin tones
and eye-appearance due to the infrared...
>Of course I also would have liked something the size of the new Sony Micro
>DV camcorders, but realize there are other problems with those.
Yes! If this is attractive, though, look at the small Sony
PC9 (or cheaper TRV17/18), since its picture is OK and its
low-light range is greater than most others. With lighting
added, the results can be good (though if you are adding
enough lighting, the megapixel camera images can be better).