Is there really that much of a difference?

[Levi]

What's the difference between footage shot with a really nice camera like a Canon, and footage shot with a low consumer type camera like a Bell & Howell? Is there really that much of a difference?

-Levi

[mattias]

you're more likely to see vignetting and unsteadiness on the cheaper cameras. only very few people will notice differences in sharpness and contrast of the lens.

the main difference as far as i'm concerned though, is having more options, like variable shutter, manual aperture, variable speed, single frame and so on.