On Tue, 2 Oct 2001 13:58:35 +0300, "George S" wrote:

>Almost all 3 ccd cameras are better than 1 ccd in low light. If you have the
>money then go for a 3 ccd. Canon and Sony have very good models in this
>category. If you don't want to spend so much money then the solution is a 1
>ccd camera. I don't know about the hi-8 models, but in DV category I
>recommend you a Panasonic or Canon. Sony's TRV-11 is also a very good choice
>but it is more expensive than Panasonic's and Canon's models. I own a
>Panasonic nv-ds15 dv camcorder (1 ccd) which I bought it for 800-900$ (in
>Europe the prices are higher than USA) and I'm satisfied with its low light
>capabilities. No grainy picture in almost all cases. I shot at 01.00 am the
>streets and the avenues of the city and tha result was very good. No grainy
>at all. The only problem I noticed was the
>quality of color in low light. I think it was somehow "cold" colors with a
>tense to be black&white but all this in auto white balance mode. I think it
>is not a problem since all camcorders have small problems in low light (this
>is why I believe that a camcorder must have manual white balance).

What you describe (loss of color) is a result of the
camera using high gain; the other symptom is "graininess"
(noise-reduction may reduce this, usually at the expense
of resolution and color information). Small-CCD one-chip
Mini-DV/D-8 camcorders do not generally perform well in
low light; the best-model 1-chip Hi-8s often were somewhat
better; none comes close to a VX2000 Sony in low light,
though most other 3-chip Mini-DV camcorders perform
acceptably well in moderately low light. BTW, street
scenes at night may qualify as "low light", but normally
acceptable is the rendering the bright lights well, and
the small areas near them fairly well - not difficult for
many camcorders (though 3-chippers show the color better
in the bright-lights/neon/illuminated-signs/etc. since
they are better able to retain highlight [and shadow]
detail).