Best camera for quality action sport films?

[patonb]

Hello,
I'm looking to start making films based on sports and other adventures. I'm looking for higher quality production (higher than the department store camcorders) and I'm not really sure where to start looking.

One camera I had looked at is the Panasonic AG HMC40, any thoughts?

Ideally the camera would be on the smaller end and I cant spend more than 2000$ and less would be great.

Any help would be great, Thanks.

[Soopafresh]

Check out the GoPro HD camera, not as your primary cam but as a secondary camcorder you can easily attach to a helmet. ski pole, surfboard, etc. The base unit is $260

[patonb]

Those are sick, thanks.

Anyone have any good ideas for a primary camera? what are most people using out there?

[edDV]

JVC GY-HM100U will be better than that Panasonic. It will do 1280x720p at 60fps @35Mb/s XDCAM or 25 Mb/s HDV. This cam is popular with broadcasters for hand held work including sports. Hard to beat in the sub $5000 class. At higher prices look at the Sony XDCAM-EX models.


http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=JVC-hm100&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:eek:...wAg#ps-sellers

PS: it also does 1080i/29.97 and 1080p/23.976.

[poisondeathray]

Another big reason the JVC mode edDV linked to would be much better for sports (albeit more expensive) , is that it uses CCD sensors as opposed to CMOS.

Unless you have very docile "sports" with little motion that you are shooting (like a chess match or something ), CMOS rolling shutter and "jello" artifacts will look very very bad.

[edDV]

This site is selling JVC HM100U NAB demo units for $2795 (1yr factory warranty). I bet others are too. I'm tempted.
http://www.ggvideo.com/jvc_gyhm100.php

[Soopafresh]

The CCD sensors distinction is really important when it comes to sports - anything with fast movement.

[patonb]

Okay thanks guys. I really like that camera. Its a bit pricey though. If I can find the funds I think ill get that one.

Would any of you have any suggestions of maybe a used one, maybe not HD. What cameras would have been used for sports before HD came around.

If I wanted to spend $1500 or $2000, what should I do? Or is it really worth it to buck up and buy the JVC for $3000?

[edDV]

Okay thanks guys. I really like that camera. Its a bit pricey though. If I can find the funds I think ill get that one.

Would any of you have any suggestions of maybe a used one, maybe not HD. What cameras would have been used for sports before HD came around.

If I wanted to spend $1500 or $2000, what should I do? Or is it really worth it to buck up and buy the JVC for $3000?

For HD the choices narrow into the $3000up pro and $1200 down consumer cams. In between you can find used 1440x1080i/29.97 pro HD cams like the Sony Z1U (that I use) or FX1. 1080i can be deinterlaced nicely for the internet but that new JVC is state of the art for 1280x720 59.94p sports action. Plus the 3xCCD configuration is much better for sports than the single CMOS sensors used on earlier camcorders.

We are talking semi pro HD here. SD cams are a different world. You can get used 720x480 broadcast cams cheap these days with lenses that alone sold for >$5000. But those may have maintenance or connector/cable/battery issues. It is difficult to choose the best camera and format for the task. For SD, DV or DVCPro formats are best supported for post production software.

[patonb]

What do you think of the Canon GL2 as far as a standard def 3CCD cam?

[aedipuss]

i've used gl-2s to broadcast hockey live on local tv. they work fine for SD.

[edDV]

The GL2 is a good quality 720x480i 4:3 aspect camcorder. For 16:9 it crops from the 4:3 CCDs (lower quality). In that vintage, you needed to move up to the XL2 for native 16:9.