lens size
 

hi,

when two cams have about the same performance, but one has bigger lens, which one should i pick?

what's the advantage of having a bigger lens?

what's the advantage of having a smaller lens?

I believe that the size of the CCD/s determines the width of the lens...maybe. If you mean more zoom, perhaps think about how much zoom is important. For wildlife, a 20X zoom is a big plus! However, anything over about 6X, you'll want to use a tripod. Perhaps with a smaller zoom lens you'll get less distortion, and perhaps a sharper image.

thanks frank..

yes, you are right the bigger the lens the bigger the ccd. i guess which means the more pixels.

but does that equal better image quality or truer color tone?

i need to do some more research

also i was thinking if it's a film camera that have bigger lens, what does it do?

suppose it lets more light to hit the focal plane, does that means better image quality?

I'm sort of going with my photography background. Someone like Andre, Jeff or Ken would be much better at giving you the answers you seek. From my experience, lenses with less width are often sharper, but not always. It just depends on the design and quality of the lens (in the photo world). Which cams are you comparing?

The net lens diameter indeed relates primarely to the target(CCD) dimensions, but also the largest aperture (min F=number), and the max "wide" setting. What we see is the front (protection) "lens" and its diameter is also determined by the position in the optical path(VAP) and maybe some commercial considerations to let the lens look "big"are also involved.

Andre is correct. The CCD size and maximum aperture (F2, F2.8 etc.) are the two biggest factors. Manufactures design considerations play a role. If the camera is meant to be small and compact, lens design and CCD size will be picked to best meet the design needs.

A larger diameter front opening generally will have a larger maximum aperture. Larger apertures let in more light and allow images to be shot in lower light levels.

Larger apertures and better quality is not always the case. Many aspects come into play in determining optical quality.

frank,

i am actually trying to compare the optura pi and xi. as most of my posts are in regard of these two cams. i really hope that i get the chance to try the panasonic ones, however due to budget limitation i can only focus on a few. since i got my hands on a pi right now, i tend to want to see the difference between the earlier generation and the later.

unfortunately, most of my friends from the school are insisting on getting the 3 ccd cams; they totally despite the 1 ccd cam. i know the 3 ccd is better than the 1 ccd at this stage of the development. however, i would rather get a good 1 ccd camera and spend the rest of my budget on my production or computer equipments. so i can learn more about the whole process instead of just brag about how good my camera is.

Charlie, the PI will be better with lower light than the Xi and say GS100. But the resolution will be much higher with the Xi and GS100, along with good 16:9. The Pi has pro-scan, the Xi does not. The GS100 has frame mode---a poor man's pro-scan. Depending on what you expect or want from a cam, all 3 of these cams are great. I assume the audio would be better in these new cams compared with older cams, like the Optura PI---but Canon makes a great external mic for the PI---honestly, it's better than that little Seinheiser 300.

According to Allan and some Japanese reviews, the Xi's video quality is even better than the GS100 3 chip cam, but not as good with lower light; and the new Sony PC300 seems to have a problem with lower light, even though it has a large, 1/3" CCD, and it seems to have a serious problem with color.

Which one would I buy if I had to choose? Either the GS100 or Optura Xi.

frank,

can you explain why the pi is better in low light than the xi??

what's the difference between the wide screen mode on the pi and the 16:9 on xi is it the frame rate per sec.?

thanks for your help!

I can't explain it. Perhaps because of the low CCD pixel count coupled with the big lens?

The Xi uses more pixels right across the CCD for its 16:9, like with the GS100.