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Question

2014 Sony Camcorder HDR-PJ 540 grainy vodeo

Feb 23, 2014 2:28AM PST

I bought this camera for a church. Sony Camcorder HDR-PJ540. But when I used it at the church it did a terrible job. I think I figured out why. The church doesn't have good lighting and they wanted it setup at the back and so I had to zoom in to get a picture of the speaker. When I played it back on a large screen tv it looked grainy. I was shocked. I picked it out and got them to spend over $700. So I changed the quality setting to the highest level it makes no difference. I tried to change settings but nothing is helping. Also the digital zoom is turned off. If this wasn't a problem it would be a great camcorder. All the other features work great.
They were using another camcorder of about $230 price. Now this one was used at a closer range and it has a better picture. The main reason we were upgrading cameras was we needed one that had a microphone port to get rid of back ground noises. I am at a loss, I don't know what to do. Anyone that has any ideas please post them, thanks.

Discussion is locked

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Clarification Request
Isn't that the Projector camera?
Feb 23, 2014 2:34AM PST
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Answer
Grainy picture
Feb 23, 2014 3:07AM PST

If the lighting is poor then the camera will bring in the video amplifiers to create a decent picture. These amps will generate noise which is the grainy effect you are seeing. Better lighting would obviously help. If you propose to change the camera go for one with the largest lens diameter, the Canon range is good here.