Advise on sports viedography

Logie-1

Hi Folks, our local GAA club would like to invest in a camera for recording games, What type of camera would be best?

PS: we are a small club so our budget is limited.I think at most £2500.

Thanks in advance.

Splinters

That kind of budget could go a long way if spent wisely. If it was me personally. Id go for a cheaper DSLR camera with video capabilities and then use the rest for extras. For example....

Canon 550D - €649 (that includes 4 gig sd card, bag and a training lesson)

Sigma 18-50 F2.8 Lens -€499 (ideal for close up shots with nice shallow DOF)

Tamron 18-250 F3.5/6.3 - €499 (this would comfortably cover the zoom range you'd need and look lovely too)

Mid range video tripod - €80 - €100 (You'd need this as DSLRs are very shakey handheld)

Manfrotto Fig Rig - €299 (Great for stablising any handheld shots)

Adata 32gb Class 10 SD Card x2 - €238 (That would cover all the storage you'd need for a match)

Thats a really nice and versatile setup and comes in at €2284. All prices taken from Conns cameras so that Dublin retail prices. Im sure you'd gert that exact kit even cheaper with some shopping around.

Saying all that, theres drawbacks to the above setup that may or may not be make a difference to you. When shooting HD video with DSLR's you're limited to roughly 12 mins for any continuous shot. Its because the file size on the memory cards cant exceed 4 gig. For most uses this wouldnt make a difference but if you wanted to just setup the camera and leave it running for the whole match this wouldnt suit. They also take some getting used compared to your standard video camera...the pay off is that your footage will look stunning. Heres a sports related example done with the 550D and cheaper lesser quality lens then you would have with the above setup...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1H9usJ3j4ic

Just my 2 cents anyway. Depends on your specific needs this could end up being more hassle then you need, its just how I would go about it with that kind of budget.

m83

Great post Splinters but I would not recommend a DSLR for this work. A more traditional camcorder like a Sony Z1 or Canon XHA1 would be ten times more suitable.

- no recording limit (restarting every 12 minutes or so you're going to miss some action)

- built in 20x lens (roughly equates to a 600mm lens on a full frame camera - no way could the OP afford a similar zoom lens for a DSLR and you don't want to be changing lenses during the match)

- Deep focusing (controlling a DSLR's shallow depth of field would just be a pain in the ass for a GAA match)

etc etc..

Fionn

have to agree with m83 - DSLR wouldn't compare well with a dedicated camcorder for something like field sports.

along with the recommendations for a camcorder, consider;
HXR-NX70E
I like the waterproofing etc. excellent for GAA games, only 10X tho! extendable to 14X with some trickery!! 96 Gig internal memory with options for extra memory with SD & memory stick cards.
Just about within your budget, might have to stretch a little for a tripod

or
theres some used camcorders here like the Sony HVR-A1E €1129.57 + shipping you could get a tripod and rain slicker and probably stay within your budget. Maybe save up for a bag in due course. Again it's only 10X and it's tape but pretty good price all the same!

Logie-1

Thanks Guys.

Really appreciated.

reece

Yeah, ive shot a few astro games (full pitch) on the xha1 and was happy enough with the results.

m83

There was a guy selling an XHA1 on adverts.ie, within your price range and comes with a heap of accessories. Might still be available...

http://www.adverts.ie/video-cameras/canon-xha1-rode-ntg-2-sennheiser-mic-plus-accessories/1234845

Tactical

While considering a camera, also consider how you are going to edit and view the shot footage.

Trojan

One important issue is the question of what the footage will be used for.

Is it for the teams to review for video analysis, or for marketing the club (e.g. on the website), or for generating revenue (making DVDs for parents/supporters) etc? Is sound important?

That makes a huge difference to what you're looking for.

m83

Trojan wrote: »

One important issue is the question of what the footage will be used for.

Is it for the teams to review for video analysis, or for marketing the club (e.g. on the website), or for generating revenue (making DVDs for parents/supporters) etc? Is sound important?

That makes a huge difference to what you're looking for.

If you're suggesting a different type of camera must be used for video analysis, online promo or making a DVD I think you're way off the mark. An XHA1 or equivalent with a shotgun mic would do all three quite comfortably.

Logie-1

The main purpose is for video analysis, but we would like to record games of all the teams for generating funds.


"While considering a camera, also consider how you are going to edit and view the shot footage." We haven't got this sorted yet. We have contacted the county board to see what they are using.

Thanks again guys for the replies.

reece

If you decide to go with the xha1 go for the 's' model. With the original model you cant zoom and manually focus at the same time (if u need that sort of functionality)

Trojan

m83 wrote: »

If you're suggesting a different type of camera must be used for video analysis, online promo or making a DVD I think you're way off the mark.

I'm suggesting a different type of camera could be used for video analysis, online promo or making a DVD - because the requirements for quality (sound and audio) are different.

You can use a very cheap camera to record if it's just for team analysis purposes, with a budget in the low hundreds.

I've used both a Flip - cheap but very, very limited - and an old JVC camcorder (one with the mini DV tapes) to record rugby matches for analysis purposes.

We didn't do much editing because the requirements were: record the match, play it back on screen direct from camera, discuss.

The most important thing for the analysis was:

1) knowledge of operator (needs to know the game, not just the camera - what are you looking for?)
2) camera location and mobility (for club matches this is a big deal - most small clubs don't have stands - bring a step ladder or other solution)
3) optical zoom
4) (less important) mic

m83 wrote: »

An XHA1 or equivalent with a shotgun mic would do all three quite comfortably.

It certainly would.

shmeee

Just stumbled across this thread when googling info on camera's to record matches so sorry to be hi-jacking it...

But anyway...

I am looking for something around the €800 - €1,200 (including bag, extra battery's, memory cards, tripod etc) mark for recording GAA matches for analysis after a match or training so sound is not important...

I have used a camera on many occasions recording games, and that camera used tapes and is a few years old and involved playing tape on tv to record to dvd so a camera with flash memory would make life so much easier, and now I don't really know what to look for...

Would any of these be suitable :

http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/9911627/art/sony/hdr-pj50v-high-definition.html

http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/8930378/art/panasonic/hdc-sd900-high-definition.html

http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/5387847/art/samsung/hmx-s15-high-definition-c.html

Im open to any suggestions...

Thanks for the help...