CMOS Replacing CCD in Prosumer Camcorders

There's a rumor afoot suggesting that Canon will be ditching CCD and adopting CMOS chips for a new pro-level camcorder. Digital cameras and camcorders never been so indistinguishable.

If the rumor is true, Canon will be adopting sub-35mm dSLR sensors (APS-C sized CMOS, or what you see in entry level dSLRs like the Rebel) into their elite camcorders. It's not a completely new idea. The Red One has long used a CMOS chip to record 4k video, and Canon makes use of a CMOS in the $1000ish Vixia. But with Canon choosing CMOS for a pro-level camcorder, it pretty much means that CCD (the preferred video chip format of the last several decades) is dead. (Once we saw dSLRs shooting 1080p, we knew this day wasn't far off.) As for the mystery cam itself...

Source: Gizmodo

Commentary

I have opted to go the CMOS route myself when looking at recording video because the resolution is getting better at a cheaper price in smaller packages than CCD Cameras.

These changes at the high end will be finding their way down to consumer cameras in the next few years, and already we are seeing casual video enthusiasts putting out online video that rivals the quality of the professional video makers...and before long, these people will begin to put together serious online newscasts that will be of better video quality than that of the local TV Stations, and better sourced by citizen journalists, for far less than it costs the professionals to do the same job.

We are witnessing the beginning phase of a technological revolution which will be as destructive to traditional video news sources as online bloggers and news sites have been to the print media.