A good way to get the best footage from a small cam is by considering those basic shooting habits from the days of the big VHS video camcorders; What you get at the end of the day is what you have to live with. Add to this the fact that the standard resolution of most videos taken from cell phones is nowhere near as good as those portable camcorders, and shooting with an eye towards creating the best video possible becomes even more important. So here some basic rules that will improve the quality of the video being shot from the outset. Portable video camcorders are all about being on-the-go and shooting video at a moment's notice. These "one-trick pony" devices have been overtaken by cell phones, which have added shooting video to their more than just making a phone call repertoire.

Since we all pretty much carry our cell phones with us all the time, the convenience of being able to use them for shooting video can't be overstated.

But by their very nature, the quality of the video leaves much to be desired. Since cell phone video recorders shoot at fairly low resolutions and do not have the same level of sophistication as that of their stand-alone camcorder cousins, it's important to try and remove potential problems before they can occur during the shooting. Not to mention avoiding bad habits that can lead to sloppy looking video.

Light Up The Scene

Lighting affects the quality of the video. Video camcorders have systems built-in to handle extremes in brightness and contrast, but cell phones for the most part have only the most basic of these modifiers, if at all. So keeping the sun behind you to avoid glare makes a lot of sense, as does avoiding shooting in dim light whenever possible (since the camera sensor will create a lot of "noise" trying to pull up detail).

Of course shooting into shaded areas outside occur with regularity, although the scene will be dimmer compared to bright sunshine. For those occasions it's better to enter into the shaded area so that the camera sensor fully enveloped and can adjust for the light level. This will be preferable to shooting "into" the shade as the cell pone will be adjusting for the greater brightness and the differences between the intensity of light between what the cell phone is in versus that which the camera is attempting to shoot will only increase the level of contrast and make the scene appear more harsh.

Focus On What's Important When Using A Cell Phone Video Recorder

Focus is another issue that must be taken into account. The cell might be able to set the focus prior to shooting but its fixed once the shooting starts. Being aware of this means trying to keep that which is being shot (if people or other live action) on a horizontal plane. This will also help compensate for speed and minimize blurring. Movements towards/away from the camera will not hold focus as well, since depth of field is mild, and result in greater out of focus video.

To Zoom or Not to Zoom

Unlike a video camcorder, a cell phone will have a small amount of zoom available - if at all. This zoom will come courtesy of digital technology, which by its very nature degrades the quality of the image because it is not moving in closer to what is being shot, but is just magnifying the pixels. Consider just moving closer to the area of interest instead of zooming if possible, since this will keep the resolution of the video from being negatively affected.