The COLOR Of LIGHT.

Why Even Smart Camcorders Need A Color Filter

All light is not the same. The color of light can vary greatly and affect video quality and color accuracy. And because all light can be colored differently, adjustments must be made in videotaping. Knowing the color of light and making the appropriate adjustments--either externally with add-on filters or internally with the camcorder's functions--can mean a big difference in video quality.

Here's a story on the color of light that might wake up many camcorder owners who think they're getting good color on their video equipment.

I recently took a trip to the Grand Canyon with a good friend of mine. We both took our camcorders to this "Eighth Wonder of the World" that's probably the ultimate video subject. Many times throughout the trip, we found ourselves videotaping the same scenes.

We spent the day capturing video and eventually went our separate ways. Later that night, I played back the day's shooting for my friend by connecting my camcorder to my motel room's TV set. Then, I got the great idea of comparing his camcorder with mine.

Both are VHS-C-format models, so obviously format was not an issue. The quality was similar, but my friend's video was definitely off in color accuracy. He didn't notice the color differences when he reviewed his footage back in his motel room, but when viewed side-by-side with my video, we both saw a definite difference.

Generally, his video was blue and mine was accurate. The brown, rust, amber and beige earth tones of the canyon really rang out true on my video, while his was definitely off.

"Hey, my video didn't look blue when I played it back earlier," he complained.

"Yeah, but you had nothing to compare it to," I countered.

"Well, that settles it, I'm dumping this camcorder and getting a new one, just …