Posted by Jukka Aho on 11/15/06 22:49

iws wrote:

> Lower end camcorders with small sensors don't usually do too well in
> low light. If you get an image, the colors will be poorly rendered
> and the video usually grainy. Many Sony camcorders have "Nightshot"
> which uses infrared to get images even in the dark. They're quite
> poor though and I think it's more of a gimmick than all that useful.

It should be emphasized that the Nightshot mode does not help a bit with
color rendition. Switching on the nightshot mode will remove the IR
filter in front of the CCD chip, inside the camera, but it will also
switch on the black and white mode. (Or, actually, the camera will be
switched into a green-tinted monochrome mode for gimmicky
Hollywood-esque spy/military gear imititation reasons, though you can
_make_ it black and white by using the on-camera B&W effect while
shooting.)

Nightshot images can be pretty good, though, if black & white suffices
for your purposes, and especially if you're using an external IR light
source instead of the tiny IR leds on front of the camera. (That is, if
you can come up with a sensible reason for shooting black & white video
in complete darkness in the first place.)

--
znark

[Back to original message]