Hi Everyone,

 

Looking for recommendations on a video camera, not looking to break the bank but definitely need to upgrade my 10 year old Sony.

 

The camera will mainly be used to video my kids sporting events (6th - 10th grade) as well as scout video for Pop Warner football and video taping our home games for grading of positions.

 

Any recommendations on what to look for or not look for would be appreciated.

 

Thanks!

Panasonic has a pretty good line up of camcorders.

 

You really don't need a 4k camera.   I have a high end machine with a lot of ram and when I edit 4k videos that are 10 minutes+ it crushes my machine.

 

Not only that, I don't have a 4k display anyway.

 

If you are going to be recording games, you need something that can do at least 60 frames per second.  

 

If you can get a camera with HDR (High Dynamic Range) you will find it will shoot much better in all lighting conditions, specially areas that are back lit.

 

You can usually tell how good the camcorder sensor is by the megapixel value of still images but that isn't the only thing that's important.  A camera that shoots 24megapixel stills with no HDR isn't going to be as good as something that shoots 10megapixel stills with HDR.

 

You also want a camera that has at least a  35mm equivalent focal length of around 28mm and a maximum aperture of f1.8.  

 

Definitely get a camera with image stabilization.  Not sure how many don't have it these days but make sure it has it.

How about a two-fer?  Maybe consider a Canon prosumer 35mm digital SLR.  They do both stills and video now.  The video image quality is spectacular and the glass is, well Canon glass, so you know it's going to be good.

 

You may also want to consider a used high end Canon, Panasonic or Sony pro or prosumer camcorder. FYI, Sony has a repair depot in North Jersey with superior service and turn around.

Ever think about a gopro? They seem good enough for Discovery channel to use in their TV series. They are really tough and water proof.

Ever think about a gopro? They seem good enough for Discovery channel to use in their TV series. They are really tough and water proof.

Gopro wouldn't work well in that situation.  GoPros are for first person shooting and tend to be a bit fisheyed.  No zoom as well. 

 

I agree on the Digital SLR with Video.  You can get some zoom on the video.  I've shot 1080p video with my Canon Rebel T3i and it's been crystal clear.

Ever think about a gopro? They seem good enough for Discovery channel to use in their TV series. They are really tough and water proof.

 

I have a Hero4 Silver and it takes great videos in lots of different light but it's really better as a first person camera rather than someone sitting in the stands watching a game.  It's very wide so something 75 feet away is going to be small.

 

The nice thing about camcorders is that they are pretty much point and shoot, usually have wide aperatures(f1.8) for shooting in all light conditions and have good optical and so-so digital zooms.  When I shoot video with my DSLR, it's quite a bit more touchy about settings and light.  It can easily do better than most camcorders, but it's also real easy to make a blurry, unusable mess.  If I were buying a camcorder today, I'd probably get a Panasonic HC-V770.   It's a good mix of features and a reasonable price for what you get.   It's not 4k, but by the time 4k is in everyone's home, it'll be time to get a 4k camcorder that will be better than what's out there today and probably half of what you'd pay today.

Honestly, for the average Joe, 720P 30fps is more than enough.  The video quality is still very good and it does not require a $5,000.00 quad Xeon workstation with dual monitors and multiple SCSI RAID to edit video on. 1080P is very nice, gorgeous even, but it is so sharp it can have a negative effect.  Ask yourself, does your wife really want to see every wrinkle and grey hair in fine detail, or every zit on your teen daughter highlighted with crystal clear clarity, when watching home movies?  Some cameras are so sharp the video has to be (or should be) softened with filters over glass or in post production.

Most of the Sony products interface well with mirror shoes

If you want to keep it very simple they make zoom lenses you can attach to your cellphone and they great shots.  Maybe not as good as some expensive cameras, but still much better than the full size VHS cameras we used when my kids were little.  I am actually shocked at how good the video is on my iPhone 6+ when I have people use it to film me at shooting matches.  You can even have it run at 240fps for slow playback.

Have you tried checking out "Consumer Reports?"

I got the Panasonic last year. 1080 HD. Not 4k. I like it. I think Sony is good for camcorder also.

 

 

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Have you tried checking out "Consumer Reports?"

 

Thanks PD2K, I actually thought about it but them completely forgot, I definitely will take a look.

I got the Panasonic last year. 1080 HD. Not 4k. I like it. I think Sony is good for camcorder also.

 

 

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Can I ask what model Panasonic you bought and how is the picture quality especially when playing back in slow motion?

I think it's the 770.

I haven't tried slow mo but quality of 1080 recordings for me is fantastic on a 60" 1080 screen.

 

 

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