Top 5 Features To Look For In A Professional Video Camera

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CMOS or 3 CCD sensor

CMOS and CCDs are the chips inside your camera that translate the real world into a digital image. They are the standard for professional-quality video cameras.

Full Manual Control

You always want to be able to adjust your aperture (AKA Iris in video cameras), ISO (AKA Gain), white balance (AKA Kelvins) and focus.

And don't forget: it's fundamental to have full control on audio settings too!

XLR Inputs

Via desktopvideo.about.com

Look for a camcorder that offers an input so you can plug in an external microphone. The microphones built in to camcorders are generally low quality, and you'll want to be able to use a separate, external microphone if you really care about the quality of the audio you record.

Ability To Shoot In Low Light

Dark image or tedious image noise? Don't compromise when shooting in low light. Consider this very common issue when buying your professional camera.

Interchangeable Lenses

You probably don't want a camera with a fixed lens that you must use for EVERY-SINGLE-SHOT you take.