Compact HD Camcorder

[willj12]

Well I am going skiing soon and thought it would be a good time to get a new camcorder, I have been looking at the Sony TG3, the only problem with this is it doesn't shoot in progressive. I am thinking this should be a must as going down a mountain fairly fast could cause interlaced video to break up.
What other alternatives are there?
1080p recording would be very nice but not a must, also around £500.

Thanks
will

 

[A n d r e w]

I have been looking at the Sony TG3, the only problem with this is it doesn't shoot in progressive. I am thinking this should be a must as going down a mountain fairly fast could cause interlaced video to break up.

Interlaced video handles movement better than progressive. With interlaced, you get 50 (or 60 if you're in the States etc.) half-frame fields per second. With interlaced you get 25 (or 30) full-frame fields. As a result, interlaced video makes movement look more smooth than progressive.

Having said that, no AVCHD camcorder handles fast movement especially well.

Around £500 you ought to consider the Canon HF100.

 

[willj12]

ok but with interlaced at 60hz you get 30 full frames per/sec, then with progressive at 30hz you also get 30 full frames per/sec. I also thought that progressive give better results for faster moving video.

 

[A n d r e w]

ok but with interlaced at 60hz you get 30 full frames per/sec, then with progressive at 30hz you also get 30 full frames per/sec.

Yes, but with the former you get a field (albeit a half-res one) twice every frame whereas with the latter you get a field (a full progressive field) once every frame. I think you'll find that interlaced does a better job with movement if you're shooting with a consumer camcorder.