Better quality video is better.
There are many older videos, that are poor quality that have millions of views on Youtube, but new video is big and sharp. If your video is not big and sharp, your video may not be tolerated by consumers who will soon be used to a higher standard.
You can compare some videos I have been experimenting with. These first two videos were shot with my Samsung point and shoot digital still camera that also has a 640x480 video mode.
- Contra dancing in Gainesville
- Partnership Dancing salsa dance lesson demonstration
This second example I shot with Zi8 in their WVGA mode of 848x480. I prefer this larger mode.
- Ya Abud Israeli Dance
The sound has been dubbed in the video above. In this next video, the size is the same, but the sound is that which was recorded by the camera, which is not good.
- Chicken Bird Dance
The sound is much better when dubbed, but loses the participants shouts, clapping and stamping, which is also not good.
A possible solution is to combine the recorded sound and the dubbed sound, which you can do with video editing software, but I have not tried that yet.
The two inexpensive video cameras out right now are the Kodak Zi8 and Flip.
The Zi8 shoots three video modes above WVGA: 720 at 30 frames per second, 720 at 60 fps and 1020 at 30 fps. You can shoot at a higher quality and reduce the size in your video editing software, however, the bigger the video the more processing and the slower the rendering. 720 at 30 fps may be the best right now for online video.
The Zi8 has a power jack so you can run it off the wall and do not have to worry about the battery. The Zi8 uses an SD card for easy transfer of video to your computer.
The Zi8 stores video files in MOV format, which is a poor choice in not being universally acceptable. Windows Movie Maker will not work with MOV format, which is an Apple format. You have to convert the files first, which is not as easy as it would seem it should be.
The Zi8 cannot be set on a table by itself. You must have a tripod to hold the Zi8.
The Zi8 has a zoom, which is good, but the Zi8 lens cannot shoot too close. If you want to get a full body shoot, you have to be considerably further away than for my Samsung digital still camera.
The Zi8 has a microphone jack. You will need to get a wireless microphone and receiver. The one I used a friend had bought on Amazon for $160, more than the camera. It was a Sony wireless bluetooth microphone.
Saw the Flip camera in Sams Club, but it does not have the microphone jack, so if you need the wireless microphone, the Flip is out.
Other video cameras are more expensive.
If your digital still camera has a video mode, try that. If you are happy with the results, use it. Otherwise, the Zi8 seems a reasonable choice.
See this article for using Sony Vegas video editing software with Kodak Zi8 Mov files.
By Andrew Weitzen, Bronze Inc. Copyright (c) 2010.
Bronze is the publisher of several online Internet journals including: InternetHandholding.com, DomainNames.gs, DotNetNuke.bz, Programmer.bz, Software.vg, WebHosting.vg