What type of camera is best for footbag videos?

shredzilla · Post by **shredzilla** » 23 May 2006 07:10

I watch a lot of videos on here, and some are of high-quality, close up, so you can really see the player and what's going on with the bag. Anyway, I'm buying a new camera today after work. I know nothing about them except I'd like to get a digital video camera with a memory stick. And I'd like to be able to shoot and get good close-range shots. Is that done with a wide-angle lense? Please help!

jon · Post by **jon** » 23 May 2006 07:25

Don't rush into buying a camera! Check out www.camcorderinfo.com and do some research before you spend your hard earned money on a video camera.

HooD · Post by **HooD** » 23 May 2006 10:03

jon wrote:Don't rush into buying a camera! Check out www.camcorderinfo.com and do some research before you spend your hard earned money on a video camera.

Exactly what he said !!!

A nice camcorder is one deal, but then attachable lenses really make the quality jump out. Wideangle lenses allow you to get closer up to the action. I'd also say get some sort of low level fish eye lense, nothing absurd though. Like Jon said, research. Get your money's worth and know what you want when you hand over a couple hundred bucks. I don't know much about camcorders because I've never had to buy one, I usually just borrow a friends for a weekend or something. If I did have to purchase one, I'd research the hell outta them and look at your different options for your spending range.

shredzilla · Post by **shredzilla** » 23 May 2006 10:47

Yeah, that site is great, thanks Jon. It's pretty informative, but it's hard to make an educated decision using tech-spec comparisons when you don't know much about them. If someone does know what to look for in those specs that would help as well. Or again, if someone just knows of an awesome camera tha produces great quality vids.

King Monkey · Post by **King Monkey** » 23 May 2006 16:57

If money isnt such a big deal and stuff, then go for a 3CCD camera, for much better image quality than a 'less than 1CCD' camera. It will normally say on the side of the camera itself '3CCD' or something. Im no tech whizz, but i think the difference is that with a 3CCD camera you have 3 chips processing red, green and blue, whereas with a single CCD or less, all colours are being processed by the same chip and therefore it cant do every colour complete justice. Or something.

Forget about digital zoom. 400x, 800x, it doesnt mean shit. Optical zoom is where its at, 16x is probably enough for your purposes (esp for footbag which you dont normally shoot from a long way off), 24x is even better but not worth paying much more money than 16x, IMO.

If you own a good digital stills camera already, dont worry about buying a DV camera with digital still capability and a memory stick, unless you have a lot of money to throw around. Eg. when i bought mine, i got the non-memory stick version and it was $200 cheaper than one that had a memory stick. I know technology has probably gotten better and the quality of stills from these cameras is pretty good now, but why buy another digital camera when you already have one?

A good night shooting capability would be sweet too, for filming shred at jams and stuff when its dark. Sony has a Night-Shot mode which shoots the image in shades of green which is kinda cool, but not realistic, though you can see whats going on pretty well and the frame rate remains smooth. I bought a JVC camera and it had some Colour Night mode shit, which was crap because it just slows down the frame capture rate to render the video in colour, so you just get clunky, blurred video which is a nightmare to watch. Also the colour night mode on this camera turns on automatically when there is not enough light, which is fucking annoying when you are filming a good run or something.

If you have alot of dough, you could consider a harddrive-based camera, but only if the drive is pretty big. I think like 20gigs holds around 6 or 7 hours of footage, but this could be bad if you are travelling to a jam or overseas, where you cant dump your footage onto a disc - you can only film 7 hours. If you can find a drive with like, 50 gig that would rock, i reckon its more than enough room to be safe.
I would avoid DVD RAM or disc recording cameras, only because i dont trust the durability of the discs over time and i dont know that you can hold much footage on a disc at the best resolution. If you dont go Harddrive, then go MiniDV tape.

IF you can, avoid touchscreen menu cameras unless you like to feel special. I can see the screen getting fucked up, scratched and dirty from your (and everyone elses) fingers on the screen all the time.

Consider also the quality of the lens you are getting on the camera, talk to the salesman about lens' and what he recommends. I know fuck all about brands and quality and shit, but ive heard Carl Zeiss lens' are good.
Ask also if it is possible to add attachable lens' to your chosen camera, and then pick up a 0.3 or so Semi-fisheye attachment. Its sweet for footbag for those low angle, closeup shots. (Refer to my Phil Morrison video)

Try to find a salesman who is like already a friend of yours, or who you think knows their shit. Normally in a good store (one that is generally dedicated to Electrical goods) you will find some people who genuinely like their job and are there because they know alot about the products (maybe they are enthusiasts outside of work) and want to help you. They are the ones who will listen to what you want, and then recommend the camera they think will be best, not the most expensive one.

Get a second battery too, because at a footbag jam one will definitely not be enough.

Hmm cant think of anything else right now, hope this is of some use (and somewhat correct!)

BalinorNZ · Post by **BalinorNZ** » 23 May 2006 19:08

Everything Ian says is true.

3CCD is good, if I was to buy a new camera I would definatly get 3CCD.

As far as I know Hard drive cams are still way over priced and DVD recording cams record in MPEG2 which is crap for editing. That leaves you with DV-Tape cameras, they are the best and DV tapes are cheap as these days (I bought like 16 of em, that's 16 hours).

Definatly get extra battery (go for high capacity if possible).

Don't worry too much about zoom, most DV cams will have more than enough for filming footbag.

The best way to buy a DV cam is decide what your budget is and then go to the site Jon suggested and find they most recomended camera for your allowed price.

Good luck Chris

janis · Post by **janis** » 23 May 2006 23:19

3CCD makes for better color reproduction, makes a difference.

Also look for a camera with a good frames per second rate, this is particuarly important as the footbag is small and moves fast.

And if possible try limit using zoom (and never use digital zoom), especially if you are using a hand held camera. If you do want to use zoom get a camera with a good optical zoom.

Best of luck getting the camera

krawallier · Post by **krawallier** » 23 May 2006 23:33

generally speaking canon cameras generally are a good deal for what you get, they have pretty good lenses, similar to the sony carl zeiss lenses (and basically the lens is nearly what it is all about). but basically yeah, what ian said. oh and fuck the zoom. IMO if you don't plan on filming a lot and going into high quality editing don't waste your money. for internet footage it really doesn''t matter if it is a 3 chip or 1 chip... also i f you get a (semi)fish eye, the image quality drops anyways...

jon · Post by **jon** » 24 May 2006 06:09

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Ca ... t-2005.htm

Check that for great cameras in different price ranges.

I am no camera expert but I do know that relying on just the number of ccd's in a camera is not how you tell the quality. JUST AS IMPORTANT is the size of each CCD. There are much better single CCD cameras out there as some of the 3 CCD cams.

One of the biggest problems with cams is their quality in low light. (not really an issue if you never plan to use it indoors but most people do). So make sure when reviewing cameras you pay close attention to their performance in low light conditions.

Some poeple will tell you to only buy sony video cameras. Well I think they are lacking manual features at the lower price range and unless you have a lot of cash look at other brands, although sony does make some of the best cams on the market.

Last but not least I won't listen to any sales people unless you are at a high end camera store. Typically they know nothing and make up facts.

----------------
Random fact - the vast majority of cameras purchased by younger males are used primary to fill home made porn

BalinorNZ · Post by **BalinorNZ** » 24 May 2006 15:30

jon wrote:Random fact - the vast majority of cameras purchased by younger males are used primary to fill home made porn

I'm glad Chris isn't a young male... or we could be seeing some freeky videos from him in coming months

shredzilla · Post by **shredzilla** » 25 May 2006 14:26

Wow, thanks to the tips in this thread I think I found the cam I want. It's a JVC 20GB Hard Disc Drive Camcorder. Despite warning, and previous experience at Best Buy, the salesperson was surprisingly knowledgable. And thanks to your tips, I knew the right questions to ask. It's got 3CC, 32x optical zoom, and records up to 9hrs on the HDD. I think the HDD is going to be useful for me because I prefer that type of media storage over disc or tape. Feel free to comment if you think this is a decent model for footbag vids. Thanks again for all the help!

JVC Model GZMG21

EDIT: Okay, apparently this cam got dogged by CNET (5.4 Overall score lol). Haha well, back to the drawing board. Dave showed me a Panasonic that looks pretty good, got good reviews. What pains me is the JVC on paper looks awesome 32x optical zoom is sick, 3CCs and the HDD. But apparently it takes crappy vids. Sigh.

shredzilla · Post by **shredzilla** » 30 May 2006 11:35

Update: Well, I'm here at Best Buy surfing the net for info on a potential camera, and OF COURSE posting on modified lol. I was going to get the Panasonic PVGS300, but I think I may have found a good compromise. The GS300 is 3CC, 10x optical. It got great reviews on CNET, and it's supposed to take great vids. -664 dollars.

There's a lower model, the GS59 that is only 359 dollars. It's essentially the same camera stripped down to 1CC but it has 30x optical. is 2CC worth an extra 350 for someone like me who is just starting with vid recording? They had no review on CNET, but I want to assume that Panasonic put similar technology in this cam for it to take great vids.

The verdict: I'm going to go ahead and get the lower model, and spend less cash. I'll take it home, film some footbag, and if it doesn't wow me, I'll consider returning it and trying a different cam.

pips · Post by **pips** » 17 Dec 2006 17:03

My mom is offering to help me pay half the price of a camcorder for Christmas this year, and I wanted to ask some of you people who have some experience with good camcorders for footbag for some advice.

I basically want to know what camcorder is good for recording footbag stuff (and things my daughter does indoors and outdoors). I'd rather you give me a specific camera model instead of what to look for in one.

I searched around here and used all of your previous advice about CCD's, zoom, low light, and stuff.

Sony, Canon, or Panasonic (in no specific order) sound good to me.

After a lot of searching, I am basically down to the Canon Elura 100, but I don't know. It's considered this years best camera under 400 USD, but I read a few bad reviews. I held one today, and it did seem a little small for my hand or something.

Do any of you have one? Do you recommend it?

I was down to that and Sony HC-36 or something, but reviews said that had bad video quality and pictures were too small.

I don't want anything fancy. I want to be able to post decent quality videos online to get criticized and hopefully get better. I want something that works good in low light. I don't really care for still pictures but I do. I want something that will last long.

I saw reviews saying Sony cameras died within a year. Is this really common that I shouldn't go for Sony, because otherwise, people say they are great.

As far as I know, you guys seem to recommend mini DV. Is it easy to switch mini DV to a computer, or should I get DVD or something else?

Should I wait for 2007 cameras to come out since this year is about over? They'll be out in January-ish right?

I am trying not to pass 400 USD. Should I go up to 500 USD? Higher? I can't push the price too far.

Please help me, because I thought I had my mind made up, but now I am not so sure.

EDIT: Am I making this a bigger deal than I think? Is any decent camera that feels good in my hand gonna be alright?

habitat · Post by **habitat** » 17 Dec 2006 22:48

Well Chrissy, one thing I know for sure is DO NOT get a DVD camcorder if you plan on editing anything. My first camera broke and I've been using my cousin's Sony DVD camcorder for the past 6 months or so. It's really confusing/lame having to convert formats to be able to edit with. Luckily for me, Sony Vegas (my editing program) has a SUPER simple import/conversion option for camcorder DVDs

I lucked out with the Sony-Sony connection.

MiniDV is the really the way to go because you can capture the footage a lot more neatly using firewire. It's a lot harder for me because I HAVE to capture the whole dvd onto my computer before I can do anything with it. By the way, camcorder DVDs only hold 30 minutes a piece. I bought a 3-pack for $12 once. Ouch. Now I buy DVD-RW.

Like the advice above, just shop around and read reviews. You will find the perfect one for you if you keep looking. Just don't buy DVD. Please.

QuantumBalance · Post by **QuantumBalance** » 17 Dec 2006 23:32

neVER GET A dvd camera. get hard drive! dont get anything else... just get a little camera with a wide angle lense and your set

ShredOnLawn · Post by **ShredOnLawn** » 03 Jan 2007 01:00

Fish Eye Lens

Sky with clouds in the background or viewed from above, or solid color background.

No cut off heads or feet or fingers. The entire human should be on camera with a cool backdrop and a fish eyed lens.

Pyroman924 · Post by **Pyroman924** » 16 Jan 2007 17:27

Ok, so Alan has a $250 budget for his new camera.

I've done a lot of searching and such and so far I've had my eye caught by the Canon ZR500 I think it is. I was just wondering though:

1: Would you consider it worthy of a footbag video. I'm not going for proffesional videos here, just amatuer shred footage.
2: Is there another camera in my price range better suited for the job?

QuantumBalance · Post by **QuantumBalance** » 17 Jan 2007 05:31

Yall are trippin.

edit: ME TOO

!

What type of camera is best for footbag videos?

Do you hate Dan Feary?

What type of camera is best for footbag videos?