Hey video guys! Need some advice.

[Lt. Bob]

Going to new Orleans next week.
Planning on taking a buncha vids during the week ...... some touristy stuff and some simply putting it on a tripod and recording a gig with my daughter.
I'll be using my Zoom Q3 ....

It offers four choices:
720 60 fps
1080 30 fps
WVGA 60
WVGA 30

Now ..... in a technical sense I understand 1080 vs 720 and I understand what 30 fps and 60 fps means.

But I have zero practical experience with it .... have never really done much of any videoing and I've never looked at much vids either so I'm totally ignorant of this stuff. don't know if the advantages of 60 fps versus 30 fps outweigh the advantage of 1080 over 720.

I won't be videoing sports or anything fast .... just people walking or playing guitar or singing.
I know 60fps will give me a smoother vid but I also know 1080 will give higher quality imaging.
But I don't know if better pic quality is minimal while better fps makes a larger difference or the 720 quality is good enough so the faster fps is the better choice.

And I don't even know what the hell WVGA even is.
I do see that it uses less data as I have 5 and a half hours time on my card with 720 60fps and over 8 hours with WVGA 60 but I don't know how much I pay in quality for that extra time.
Based on data I should go with WVGA but does it suck?
Would that be a mistake?
Dunno

It may well be that any of these are perfectly sufficient for what I'm gonna do and so I should just look for the longest recording time per card.
But it may also be one of these is flat out the best or another is horrible and should be avoided so I'm asking the question.

help a brother out

[CrowsofFritz]

Yeah, any of them are sufficient. If you’re not going to slow down any of the video, I’d go with the 1080p 30 FPS route. 60 is certainly noticeably smoother, but we watch movies in 24 and broadcast news in 30. It’s definitely not bad to have it at 30.

If it were gaming 60 is definitely preferable for obvious reasons, but casual videoing, 30 is fine.

I actually video all my stuff at 24 FPS. Unless I want to go for super slow motion—then I shoot at 240 FPS and can slow it 10x.

[rayc]

I use 1080 30 fps or there abouts all the time.
The only time it pixelates in my vids is when I've REALLY enlarged something and then thrown a couple of filters like Green screen on it.
Easy, comfy & not too large.
You may, since you plan to be doing some filming, get a back up SD storage card or two. I wonder if those things would fit a cheap Gimble...that also would be worth the $50 buck ...steady, easy to use, smoother shots, not as hard on the hand and even the cheap ones have a mini tripod built into the handle PLUS you wouldn't need to use the "app" associated.

[Lt. Bob]

Thanks so much guys! I really appreciate it!
I'll look into gimble type handles although I won't have time to get one in from Amazon ... but Walmart might have them.

I won't be using apps with it .... this isn't a phone. It's a Zoom Q3.
It's pretty old and surely prehistoric by current vid standards.

Actually, in the near future, I'm gonna start investigating getting a modern camera but this is what I have.
Also want an Occulus but that's for a different thread.

What about the WVGA thing?
Why would it use less data and what does it even mean?
I saw on le' web that it's something about wideframe but taking some quick shots didn't seem to show any difference size-wise.

[CrowsofFritz]

Thanks so much guys! I really appreciate it!
I'll look into gimble type handles although I won't have time to get one in from Amazon ... but Walmart might have them.

I won't be using apps with it .... this isn't a phone. It's a Zoom Q3.
It's pretty old and surely prehistoric by current vid standards.

Actually, in the near future, I'm gonna start investigating getting a modern camera but this is what I have.
Also want an Occulus but that's for a different thread.

What about the WVGA thing?
Why would it use less data and what does it even mean?
I saw on le' web that it's something about wideframe but taking some quick shots didn't seem to show any difference size-wise.

Like you said, it’s widescreen. WVGA is locked to 480 pixels.


So it could be 720 x 480 p for a widescreen, so 1080 x 480 p for super widescreen.

[Lt. Bob]

Thanks so much guys! I really appreciate it!
I'll look into gimble type handles although I won't have time to get one in from Amazon ... but Walmart might have them.

I won't be using apps with it .... this isn't a phone. It's a Zoom Q3.
It's pretty old and surely prehistoric by current vid standards.

Actually, in the near future, I'm gonna start investigating getting a modern camera but this is what I have.
Also want an Occulus but that's for a different thread.

What about the WVGA thing?
Why would it use less data and what does it even mean?
I saw on le' web that it's something about wideframe but taking some quick shots didn't seem to show any difference size-wise.

Like you said, it’s widescreen. WVGA is locked to 480 pixels.


So it could be 720 x 480 p for a widescreen, so 1080 x 480 p for super widescreen.

OK .... so now I'm asking for just to educate myself because it sounds like it doesn't matter that much for what I'm getting ready to do ...... I'm gonna go 1080 30fps.

BUT I want to learn about this so ..... if WVGA is wide screen, doesn't that mean it's a wider image? And if so then why does it seem to use less data .... is it because of the locking to 480? ......... it's locked to 480 on the vertical?

And, in fact, on a non-widescreen is the 720 or 1080 the res both up and down and side to side?


And why didn't I see any difference?
Is it because you need to run it on a monitor or TV to see it?


Clearly at some point I'll just have to do some videoing and see for myself but I'm kinda curious and this.

[CrowsofFritz]

Like you said, it’s widescreen. WVGA is locked to 480 pixels.


So it could be 720 x 480 p for a widescreen, so 1080 x 480 p for super widescreen.

OK .... so now I'm asking for just to educate myself because it sounds like it doesn't matter that much for what I'm getting ready to do ...... I'm gonna go 1080 30fps.

BUT I want to learn about this so ..... if WVGA is wide screen, doesn't that mean it's a wider image? And if so then why does it seem to use less data .... is it because of the locking to 480? ......... it's locked to 480 on the vertical?

And, in fact, on a non-widescreen is the 720 or 1080 the res both up and down and side to side?


And why didn't I see any difference?
Is it because you need to run it on a monitor or TV to see it?


Clearly at some point I'll just have to do some videoing and see for myself but I'm kinda curious and this.

It’s technically not a wider image. It’s just the top and bottom portions are locked into place while the left and right portions can be as many pixels as you want

Here’s a good image that will explain it. So WVGA is the yellow box. WVGA will still be WVGA as long as that yellow box doesn’t get taller than what it is, but it can still be wider.

So imagine that yellow box is still as tall as it is (480 pixels) yet is as wide as the blue box. It will LOOK wider (much wider) but really, the only thing getting cut is the image you would have otherwise had in the shots on the top and bottom.

[Tadpui]

That's a good representation, @CrowsofFritz. It's interesting to see the actual name designations alongside the resolutions. I never knew what WVGA or HVGA actually represented. HVGA looks like a 16:9 version of old-school TV broadcast resolution, although I just remember it in a 4:3 ratio. And WVGA looks like "DVD" resolution, which I remember being so impressed with when I bought my first not-hand-me-down TV in the late 90s.

YouTube has been pulling these mean little experiments over the past year or two. They'll intentionally "forget" your preferred resolution every once in a while, set your default to a lower resolution, and see who notices and puts it back to a higher resolution. I catch it every once in a while, but there's no telling how long I've watched at 720p without noticing

[Lt. Bob]

It’s technically not a wider image. It’s just the top and bottom portions are locked into place while the left and right portions can be as many pixels as you want

Here’s a good image that will explain it. So WVGA is the yellow box. WVGA will still be WVGA as long as that yellow box doesn’t get taller than what it is, but it can still be wider.

So imagine that yellow box is still as tall as it is (480 pixels) yet is as wide as the blue box. It will LOOK wider (much wider) but really, the only thing getting cut is the image you would have otherwise had in the shots on the top and bottom.

great ..... got it ..... easy to understand once I see that .... thanks!


So if there's nothing in the vertical I really want to see, may as well use WVGA since it's less data ...... but if I want to catch stuff over a taller image use 1080.
Cool ............. over the next year I'ma gonna be doing the video thing ..... may as well keep learning before I'm dead as crap!
And with the help of you awesome guys I will be able to slightly comprehend things.