Video camera qualities?

santeri · Post by **santeri** » 01 Jan 2006 08:11

So, I'm thinking about buying a video camera and I haven't got any idea waht it is that I'm looking for. I thought that you could help me with this. I'm not super rich so I can't buy the best there is, but I want to buy a fairly good one.
What are the essential qualities I must have to shoot footbag?
What would be the nice-to-have things?
You can also give me suggestions of certain cameras that you use or would recommend.

Anz · Post by **Anz** » 01 Jan 2006 08:17

Even a camcorder is enough to shoot footbag so any digital camera should be fine.

ptaku · Post by **ptaku** » 01 Jan 2006 09:11

Buy Sony.

If would be the best if it was a 3CCD one.

And buy a wide-converter for it too... I don't have one and I suffer a little bit because of that. Wide-converter is really useful in shooting footbag.

Muffinman · Post by **Muffinman** » 01 Jan 2006 10:33

I also suggest Sony, and I don't know what a wide-converter is, but if it's the same thing as a wide-angle lense, then that's what I would really also suggest for filming footbag, too. It helps especially when you are filming in tight spaces (smaller indoor rooms...)

ptaku · Post by **ptaku** » 01 Jan 2006 11:05

Yeah.. I meant wide-angle lense. Thought that wide-converter is what it's called in english because this is how it's called in my camera user's guide.

Asmus · Post by **Asmus** » 01 Jan 2006 13:15

It dont have to be Sony. Just go after the big and known companies. Panasonic, Sony and those. They will not cheat you.

Troyson · Post by **Troyson** » 01 Jan 2006 15:16

i just recently got the fujifilm finepix z1, and it works good enough for shooting a footbag video. It takes fantastic pictures and the video quality is 30fps. When i find someone to host my Puerto Rico video you can see the quality shots my camera takes. Hope this helps you out.

sniikeri · Post by **sniikeri** » 02 Jan 2006 01:38

Yeah, Asmus is right.
I got a Panasonic for Christmas and it was pretty much identical with the Sony's small Handycams. First I thought that it felt really like plastic but it doesn't actually make that much difference IMO.
The nightshot sucks though, but I'm not sure if you'll need it.

I'd say the camera you want costs about 300-500 euros, you may also get one cheaper because of the winter sales.

Tuukka · Post by **Tuukka** » 02 Jan 2006 03:01

Sony has pretty good steadyshot system, Imo better than in many other camcorders.
but ye, depends a lot on your needs.

BalinorNZ · Post by **BalinorNZ** » 02 Jan 2006 04:03

Basicly, don't get a digital camera like Troy is sugesting, not because they are crap quality (though some of them are) or because they have low frame rates (though most of them do), but mainly because the quality falls significantly as light decreses and you will never get decent zoom on a digital camera.

The camera I got recently is the Canon MV800. It is only single CCD but I find that is enough for my needs. You only need 3CCD or HDV camera if you wan't to make like dvd quality movies, if your just filming footbag, normally in decent light (though the single CCD cameras all perform just find in artificial light, like at night), for internet videos, single CCD will be all you need.

You should be able to get a Canon MV800 easily for 350 euros.

ptaku · Post by **ptaku** » 02 Jan 2006 05:38

Nic I have MV800 too, but it's only because I hadn't, and wouldn't had, money for a better one. I actually think that a good camera for filming footbag should be a little bit better...

jerkki · Post by **jerkki** » 02 Jan 2006 06:04

First of all, you should NEVER buy a digital still camera if you are going to record video. Those cameras have horrible resolutions for video, bad encoding, low framerate (mostly) and insufficient adjustments for video. Digital cameras are manufactured for still photography, not for video.

Choosing the right camera isn't very easy. First you have to think what you are going to do with it and how much you want to learn as a video shooter. If you are just going to take it out of the box and start shooting then your choice is a camera with good automatic functions. If you have time and will to read the manual and test the camera then you should pay attention to manual settings.

First check the lens size (the bigger the better), in non-professional cameras this ranges about from 30mm to 60-70mm. Then check optical zoom, 12x is enough but more doesn't hurt, remember that digital zoom doesn't mean anything. That's only a cunning plan to attract customers.

After that check how many ccd's there are and what is the size of each ccd. In cheaper cameras there are mostly one ccd but if you invest more than 1000$ you can find a cam with 3ccd's. Then check the manual settings, there should be controls for Aperture width (exposure), White balance, Focus and Shutter speed. Those are the things you need if you shoot manually.

All this information can be found in the internet. Also read some magazines and reviews. When you have like 3-5 candidates go to a store and try how they feel to your hand and work in general (are the manual adjustment buttons well placed or are they hidden).

Then you are ready to buy the camera which pleases you most. Remember that you can also hunt sale prizes and used cameras aren't a bad choice either if they are in good condition (if you are buying a used camera which is over than a year old and has no warranty left, the owner shoud make a quality check in a store before the deal is on.. camera's motor might be outworn especially if the owner has shot a lot during that time).

That's about it
-Jere

ps. If you are going to buy an hd-camera read a lot of reviews and learn the pros and cons about cheap hd-cameras. If I was you, I'd buy a regular miniDV camera because those cams have the best prize-quality ratio.

sniikeri · Post by **sniikeri** » 02 Jan 2006 06:42

Amen!

jerkki · Post by **jerkki** » 02 Jan 2006 11:06

Just noticed that santeri is from Finland. In that case you should check out this site for used cameras (in finnish):

Digivideo forum

Faco · Post by **Faco** » 02 Jan 2006 17:26

I heard that Sony's Carl Zeiss lens are the best. And it's true, my JVC has some bad darkness troubles, while my friend's Sony (same price range) makes woners.

jon · Post by **jon** » 02 Jan 2006 19:39

Faco wrote:I heard that Sony's Carl Zeiss lens are the best. And it's true, my JVC has some bad darkness troubles, while my friend's Sony (same price range) makes woners.

The amount of light taken in reflects the size and number of the ccds primarily I believe.

santeri · Post by **santeri** » 03 Jan 2006 04:16

I searched the internet and found some good information.

I would mainly shoot footbag, skiing, snowboarding and just life. I'm not going to make any professional videos. I'll just film for my self and if I manage to hit some super big moves I would of course like to show them to you all with quality slow motion. I need good automatic functions because I'm not that familiar with filming. I'm interested in learning some editing too. I guess I have seen so many badly or non-edited films that I have to make better ones than those.

I'm able to invest about 600 euros. Before I go to some stores and ask around I would like to know the cameras you would buy with 600 €.
Tell me and I'll check them out.

Thanks for all this.

BalinorNZ · Post by **BalinorNZ** » 03 Jan 2006 08:13

Looking at the cheapest prices availible in New Zealand, which should be similar to prices where you are, these dv cams are close to 600euros:

(In order of price lowest to highest)
Panasonic NV-GS75 Digital Video Camcorder 3CCD
Canon MVX250i Digital Video camera
Sony DCR-HC55E MiniDV Handycam
Canon MVX40i Digital Video Camera
Panasonic NV-GS150

If you can pay a bit more this cam is closer to 700 euros but is highly recomended:
Sony DCR-HC90E MiniDV Handycam

On another note, in my opinion it's better to go with a mini DV camcorder at the moment as the ones that write directly onto a DVD encode the footage into mpeg2, rather than leaving it uncompressed like on a mini DV tape, and mpeg2 is a horrible format to edit with, though it compresses quite well.
I think tapes and rewritable dvds for each type of camcorder are similar in price but tapes can generally record longer.
The advantage of a dvd is you don't need to rewind/fastforward it, you can go directly to the location on disk you want.

Iron Clad Ben · Post by **Iron Clad Ben** » 29 Nov 2006 12:27

Hey guys, I have a question.

I recently bought a MiniDV camcorder. Pretty much bottom of the line Canon with the basic shiz. Got it super cheap on Black Friday. I'm not looking to make fancy movies, I just want to shoot footbag, maybe snowboarding and other life stuff. Nothing huge.

Anyyyyyways. The camera requires an IEEE1394 DV cable to link to my computer. However, the only IEEE1394DV cables I can find are Firewire on the other end. I have a PC and I don't think I have a firewire port (only Macs have them right?). I think I need USB? I have like a jillion USB ports on my machine (Acer desktop with AMD64 CPU) but I don't think I have firewire.

Are there IEEE1394DV to USB cables out there? I've gone to a bunch of different stores and everyone seems to only have IEEE1394DV to Firewire. How the hell am I gonna download my footage to my computer??? Any help/suggestions/ideas appreciated, especially from the experts. Thanks.

EDIT: I'm dumb. I found the firewire port on my computer last night. I bought an IEEE1394DV to Firewire cable for 15 bux. Problem solved.

krawallier · Post by **krawallier** » 29 Nov 2006 15:01

ieeeehfiasdzf983745r9 is firewire.

just get some usb2.0-firewire adapter, or buy a firewire card. should do the job.