Recommendation for Videocamera for Taping Games?

[soccerdad1214]

I use a Sony AVCHD camera with a wide angle lens which makes it nice to capture the entire field. There are many good brands, and no matter what you select, look for several key features;

1) A good zoom capacity. My Sony has a 42x zoom. Don't pay attention to the "digital zoom" because it really means nothing. You will appreciate a good zoom, especially at some venues where you cant be right on the field.

2) Have a good amount of memory. My Sony has a 160 GB of built in memory. A complete game filmed in HD will take between 6 to 7 GB of memory. You will appreciate the large amount especially if you are at a tournament with several games.

3) EXTRA BATTERY!! Cant stress it enough. filming in HD eats up a battery. Trust me on this one. You will HATE having to stop filming a game because your battery ran out.

4) A tripod or monopod is a must to eliminate the video shakes. Your viewers will love you for it. I prefer a monopod and have seen many a people use it. It is more flexible than a tripod, but gives you the steadiness you need.

5) The HD feature will provide stunning results, especially when viewed on todays HD tvs. I used to film with a regular digital camera and didn't know how the quality sucked until I upgraded to a HD camera.

6) My camera has the 5.1 microphone. Its great at picking up sound, although, this could be a double edge sword if you know what I mean....

This is all extremely helpful, thanks for taking the time to share your knowledge. I can't wait to see the HD results.

[Unregistered]

Your taping games at U11?

Well, I would much rather watch the games than tape them. If your coach isn't using them to learn from, then why do it? I bet neither you nor your kid will ever go back through and watch them. An occasional game or two, maybe. But all of the games, sounds like a waste.

[soccerdad1214]

Well, I would much rather watch the games than tape them. If your coach isn't using them to learn from, then why do it? I bet neither you nor your kid will ever go back through and watch them. An occasional game or two, maybe. But all of the games, sounds like a waste.

Good deal, you should watch the game. So no helpful insight on cameras selection?

[soccerdad1214]

I use a Sony AVCHD camera with a wide angle lens which makes it nice to capture the entire field. There are many good brands, and no matter what you select, look for several key features;

1) A good zoom capacity. My Sony has a 42x zoom. Don't pay attention to the "digital zoom" because it really means nothing. You will appreciate a good zoom, especially at some venues where you cant be right on the field.

2) Have a good amount of memory. My Sony has a 160 GB of built in memory. A complete game filmed in HD will take between 6 to 7 GB of memory. You will appreciate the large amount especially if you are at a tournament with several games.

3) EXTRA BATTERY!! Cant stress it enough. filming in HD eats up a battery. Trust me on this one. You will HATE having to stop filming a game because your battery ran out.

4) A tripod or monopod is a must to eliminate the video shakes. Your viewers will love you for it. I prefer a monopod and have seen many a people use it. It is more flexible than a tripod, but gives you the steadiness you need.

5) The HD feature will provide stunning results, especially when viewed on todays HD tvs. I used to film with a regular digital camera and didn't know how the quality sucked until I upgraded to a HD camera.

6) My camera has the 5.1 microphone. Its great at picking up sound, although, this could be a double edge sword if you know what I mean....

BTW,do you ever upload to Youtube? Or just watch on your tv?

[Unregistered]

BTW,do you ever upload to Youtube? Or just watch on your tv?

I have loaded onto YouTube. Very easy to do.

[SodiumFan]

I have loaded onto YouTube. Very easy to do.

I loaded ours on YouTube as well, it makes it easier to send a link to a coach then to try to send an entire video. Plus, if some other coaches are searching they just put in the name of the player and it will take them right to it.

[Unregistered]

Good deal, you should watch the game. So no helpful insight on cameras selection?

Yes, I have a Sony that isn't HD and it works fine. It has a 60GB hard drive so plenty of room. I've found that the more expensive the camera, the more bells and whistles that you don't actually use. Good luck, if you are taping all of your kids games from U11 on, you will need a lot of storage on your computer.

[soccerdad1214]

Yes, I have a Sony that isn't HD and it works fine. It has a 60GB hard drive so plenty of room. I've found that the more expensive the camera, the more bells and whistles that you don't actually use. Good luck, if you are taping all of your kids games from U11 on, you will need a lot of storage on your computer.

Thanks, I don't keep them forever so hard drive space is not an issue. I have a non-HD Sony too, it looks great on the computer and the TV, but not when uploaded to Youtube for the others who want to watch. I usually get 30-40 hits on each video I upload, so would prefer that the picture be as sharp after the Youtube upload as before...which I think requires HD.

[Unregistered]

Thanks, I don't keep them forever so hard drive space is not an issue. I have a non-HD Sony too, it looks great on the computer and the TV, but not when uploaded to Youtube for the others who want to watch. I usually get 30-40 hits on each video I upload, so would prefer that the picture be as sharp after the Youtube upload as before...which I think requires HD.

Then buy HD.

[Unregistered]

Yes, I have a Sony that isn't HD and it works fine. It has a 60GB hard drive so plenty of room. I've found that the more expensive the camera, the more bells and whistles that you don't actually use. Good luck, if you are taping all of your kids games from U11 on, you will need a lot of storage on your computer.

This is how I do things. This is my 2nd video camera bought with this one being HD.

What I do when buying video or even DSLR. I'll buy the camera that has the best ZOOM, Optical & so forth, although it'll have the lowest memory. I'll then buy a large memory card that more than doubles the size of the camera they were selling with the large memory.
Also I never buy batteries from the name brand stores. I'll hit E bay. You can get the same batty for a fraction.

Also never let anyone try to sell you a camera based on the fact it has such a large megapixel. It's just an industry gimmick to make more money. The 5-6 megapixel is adequate since anything larger than that only benefits the people who are printing out larger posters, etc.

[soccerdad1214]

This is how I do things. This is my 2nd video camera bought with this one being HD.

What I do when buying video or even DSLR. I'll buy the camera that has the best ZOOM, Optical & so forth, although it'll have the lowest memory. I'll then buy a large memory card that more than doubles the size of the camera they were selling with the large memory.
Also I never buy batteries from the name brand stores. I'll hit E bay. You can get the same batty for a fraction.

Also never let anyone try to sell you a camera based on the fact it has such a large megapixel. It's just an industry gimmick to make more money. The 5-6 megapixel is adequate since anything larger than that only benefits the people who are printing out larger posters, etc.

Wow, helpful advice, thanks :)