Best Camcorder for my Budget - Football Games (High School)

[Stoneface]

Hello,

This is my first post and I am currently looking to upgrade my Camcorder. I currently video tape High School Football games from the stands (top row, at 50 Yard Line, about 20 yards from the field). I have been using the Sony - DCR - SR42 and have been getting pretty good quality shots.

Here is what I am looking to do:

1. Love to have a new Camcorder with a Hard Drive (when you are shooting a 3-4 hour game, its nice!) Note: I do stop and start after each play in the football game.
2. I am looking to get the best quality video 1080p HD if I can for within my budget.
3. Budget - $1200.00 - $1500.00
4. I am willing to spend about $300 - $600 on an extra wide or higher quality lens to improve the shot.
5. I am looking for a Camcorder with a great battery life.
6. If I can take still pictures with this camcorder its a plus, but not needed.

Let me know your thoughts or feedback. I can go higher on my budget, but I do not want to at this time. I spend a lot of time doing video editing in - Corel VideoStudio (so it should be compatible to this program). I also make video for the kids for college.

Thanks for your help

Stoneface

[TreeTops]

You know, almost any point and shoot camera will do and it will save you a ton of money. I shoot horse show vids with my little sony DSC-HX7V and get good avchd videos. BUT you will need a tripod. Point and shoots, and DSLR cameras probably will not shoot video continuously but you will stop recording during football timeouts anyway.

[Brainiac]

Also keep in mind that when recording HD video to either a built-in hard drive or a card, you will have to deal with file splitting. For example, with my cameras, once the filesize reaches 4 GB (on the hard drive), then the camera will create another file. This won't be a problem for you since you start and stop recording, but it's good to know if you record longer events.

And as far as a great battery life, I purchased longer life batteries. The stock batteries aren't that good as far as long life is concerned. You may even be able to find third party batteries compatible with your camera

Brainiac

[yoda313]

I haven't checked but I thought hard drive camcorders weren't the latest and greatest anymore. I thought they were all going to sd cards or other memory stick formats. Just thought I'd temper your expectation a bit, might be hard to find.

best quality video 1080p HD

What kind of editing are you going to be doing? HD video is still somewhat tricky to edit with. If you are just doing simple edits then a modest computer should be ok. but if you are going to be doing nle fancy stuff with wipes and fades and all kinds of stuff you'll need a beefier computer.

I would think a dual core at least fore basic editing. Look into a quad core or more if you want to do high end editing.

Also what about storage and distribution? Have you factored in the costs and hassle of burning bluray discs? Or is this for personal use and you are just going to store it on harddrives? You'll need more than one to backkup the files for safe keeping.

Just some things to keep in mind on your path to upgrading.

Good luck.

[brunerww]

Hi Stoneface - I recommend the $499 Panasonic DMC-FZ200 superzoom. I have this camera's predecessor, the FZ150, and it is a great still/video camera that will do everything you need it to do:

- high quality 1080/60p video for smooth action
- shoots for hours with an $80 128GB SDXC card
- shoots closeups and wides from the stands without adapters with its 24x optical zoom

It also has 720p 120fps slow motion, so you can break down the plays.

Here is what this camera can do (please watch in 720p):



Hope that's helpful and good luck with your upgrade!

Bill
Hybrid Camera Revolution

[aedipuss]

what's with the affiliate tags on your links. commercial sales/ads need to be approved by the site owner. did baldrick ok these?

[brunerww]

Affiliate links removed. Did not know they were against the rules here. Apologies.

I left the post up, though. I only recommend cameras I have personal experience with, and the FZ200 is still the best answer for Stoneface's needs, in my view.

Cheers,

Bill
Hybrid Camera Revolution

[aedipuss]

still cams are ok for secondary shots but most can't hack long time usage as a videocam. the fz200 can record up to 10min in mp4 or 30 in avchd continuously. that is if it doesn't overheat first.

[julitomg]

Hello Stoneface
Let me add my suggestion and the reason for it:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/749190-REG/Canon_4923B002_VIXIA_HF_G10_Flash.html
It´s more than what a lot of people ´d like to spend for a compact camcorder but if you read the reviews you´ll see it´s got a nice features/image quality/price ratio. But the real reason I recomend it to you is the following:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/361366-REG/Libec_ZC_3DV.html
Among the camcorders listed at B&H it´s one of the few (other than the really and much more expensive Pro camcorders) to accept a zoom controller. I bought the Libec zoom control for my Panasonic HMC40 and it´s worth every cent, it´s one of those things that make you wonder how could you even lived without all this time!
Of course you´ll need a good fluid head tripod (unlees you already have one), I have one simmilar to this:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/537863-REG/Pearstone_VT_2500B_VT2500B_Video_Tripod_System.html
and while it´snot the best, it does the job and was quite inexpensive.

[brunerww]

still cams are ok for secondary shots but most can't hack long time usage as a videocam. the fz200 can record up to 10min in mp4 or 30 in avchd continuously. that is if it doesn't overheat first.

Hi aedipuss - in fact, the actual continuous recordable time (at the highest quality) is 80 minutes. See specs here.

Panasonic still/video hybrid cameras don't generally overheat and don't have artificially imposed clip length limits outside of the EU.

Cheers,

Bill
Hybrid Camera Revolution

[aedipuss]

still cams are ok for secondary shots but most can't hack long time usage as a videocam. the fz200 can record up to 10min in mp4 or 30 in avchd continuously. that is if it doesn't overheat first.

Hi aedipuss - in fact, the actual continuous recordable time (at the highest quality) is 80 minutes. See specs here.

Panasonic still/video hybrid cameras don't generally overheat and don't have artificially imposed clip length limits outside of the EU.

Cheers,

Bill
Hybrid Camera Revolution

maybe you forgot to read the fine print down at the bottom.

[For NTSC Areas]
Maximum time to record motion pictures continuously with [AVCHD] is 29 minutes 59 seconds. (excluding when [SH] is set) Motion pictures in [MP4] can be recorded continuously for up to 29 minutes 59 seconds. Also, motion picture recorded continuously in [MP4] is up to 4 GB.

4GB at highest mp4 quality is only about 10min.

[Stoneface]

Just wanted to let you know, I am watching the post, just waiting to everyone puts there input in to make a decision, it is much much appreciated.

Thanks

Stoneface

[brunerww]

still cams are ok for secondary shots but most can't hack long time usage as a videocam. the fz200 can record up to 10min in mp4 or 30 in avchd continuously. that is if it doesn't overheat first.

Hi aedipuss - in fact, the actual continuous recordable time (at the highest quality) is 80 minutes. See specs here.

Panasonic still/video hybrid cameras don't generally overheat and don't have artificially imposed clip length limits outside of the EU.

Cheers,

Bill
Hybrid Camera Revolution

maybe you forgot to read the fine print down at the bottom.

[For NTSC Areas]
Maximum time to record motion pictures continuously with [AVCHD] is 29 minutes 59 seconds. (excluding when [SH] is set) Motion pictures in [MP4] can be recorded continuously for up to 29 minutes 59 seconds. Also, motion picture recorded continuously in [MP4] is up to 4 GB.

4GB at highest mp4 quality is only about 10min.

Yes, sir. I read it. The same note is at the bottom of my FZ150's spec page. MP4 is a lower quality backup codec. The highest quality MP4 clips have limited durations, but that's OK, because nobody uses MP4. If you shoot in the primary codec, AVCHD, the limits in the footnote are not applicable. My son and I will shoot a little play tomorrow with the FZ150 to demonstrate.

Cheers,

Bill
Hybrid Camera Revolution

[budwzr]

Bill, yeah, the 120fps is great, and the zoom is great, but the demo video is very soft, blocky, and the color is subpar. So in the end that's about right for $500.

Did you stretch the slomo shots? From SD to HD?

Also, Panasonic is shady.

[brunerww]

Hi budwzr - The video was not mine, but the slow motion mode is 720/120p, so it didn't need to be stretched. I'm pretty sure the artifacts you're seeing were introduced by YouTube compression.

Here are a couple of 1080p pieces shot with the FZ200, a doc and an art piece. Vimeo compression is a lot smoother:

The Young Dick Tiger



Automne



I have gotten very good results from my Panasonic TM900, FZ150, GH1, GH2 and GH3. These are all serious video cameras.

Best,

Bill
Hybrid Camera Revolution

[turk690]

...I have gotten very good results from my Panasonic TM900, FZ150, GH1, GH2 and GH3. These are all serious video cameras.

You may want to consider another equally serious camcorder Canon XA10.

[budwzr]

I do like that Canon XA10, and the Canon HF G20.

Having said that, I'm disappointed there's no 60p mode. 60p (or better) is crucial nowadays. That single issue stopped me from buying the G20. However, the XA10 does at least shoot 60i, which can be interpolated easily to 60p.

They're pitching interlace cameras as "Pro", but what they really mean is "Broadcast". AKA "TV". I consider a "Pro" camera as one that shoots 2K frames or higher.

I use a GoPro as a run and gun camcorder, but the fisheye isn't always desirable. And I fell in lust with the Canon G20 last week, but I just can't take the plunge. I'm scared.

Hahaha.

[TreeTops]

That Canon G20 does look good. Only drawback for me is the touch screen. In bright daylight you probably can't see the screen and who wants greasy fingerprints all over the screen.

[budwzr]

You mean the 3.5 in. Screen is touch too? No wonder its a grand. I saw that g20 in a camera store and its big.