What kind of cameras do TV shows and movie makers use so that it doesn't look like a 'home m

You know how if you use your own camcorder, the video will look really clean. But the video from TV shows and such look much different. Is it because they use expensive equipment?

TV is recorder and produced at 520 lines per inch. Analogue video is around 200 lines per inch - think VHS, 8mm. Your digital camcorder shoots at the same resolution as TV. Therefore you should be able to produce the family picnic to look like "CSI Miami"

The TV producers have 2 things that most of us "wanna be's" dont have:

1. platform - you don't see Speilberg running around shooting with a hand held. TV and films for that matter use support - tripods, stabilizers, tracks, etc. You can emulate some of this very cheaply. A fluid head tripod can be purchased for under $100. If you can spend large a mini Steadicam outfit will run under $1000. And as they say in the Marines "Improvize! Overcome!" A childs wagon can make a poor man's steadicam.

Not having a tripod is the cheapest thing to fix and by far the biggest mistake that photographers and videographers make. They try to hand hold everything. The tripod is your friend. Become one with it.

2. lighting - The TV and film studios have lighting in many forms - lights, reflectors, snoots, barn doors, hoods, umbrellas, etc. They are also very clever about blocking light for dramatic affect. And it seems many TV producers and even photographers are using the "Miami Vice" affect - water - as in hosing down the area to get more reflection from the ground to make more contrast between the shiny and the matte. Lighting is what photography and film/video are all about in the end. Master the light and all else will fall into place.