New video camera purchase advice/suggestions

Get HD with hard drive, I have a Sony. Can burn DVD's, great piece. Once you burn then you can delete all vids. No need for tapes etc.

If you can find one a Casio EX FH-25 is a good one. It Films in HD and Slo-mo.

I went through the same process a couple of years ago, but forget to check to see what works well with my home computer. Sony and Apple are not best friends, or at least they weren't a couple of years ago. So whichever way you go, you might check out how easy it is to use with your computer.

I run Play In School - College Recruiting Videos.

My advice is for simple "video review" sessions or even DIY recruiting videos you can save a ton of money by not going with High Def. High Def will not make your son throw harder or swing faster! If you plan on using the camera for family events etc, then go for High Def. You'll love the crispness and clarity. Well worth the money.

The "hard drive" that Eric referenced means that the video camera has no removable tapes or cd. It has a built in hard drive. You connect the camera to your computer to export the footage. Or you can connect it directly to a TV via RCA cables. This is great for "review" sessions. You can even use a dry erase marker to draw on the TV. Works great.

Price varies. You can get a Sony Handycam for example for less then $400. Or you can get every bell and whistle and spend as much as you want.

Good luck. Have fun.

Rich
www.playinschool.com

Sony and Apple are friends now. That is all we use at Play In School. Very very happy with both companies products.

Rich
www.playinschool.com

JVC Everio.

This is such a timely thread. I did some searching around here on the same subject for my 2015, and just started looking at cameras. I'd definitely not just use it for making a skills video (family stuff too) and I think I'd want the HD clarity anyway (but definitely for family stuff).

The other thing that isn't directly addressed here is, if you plan to have some of the video be game action, or slow-mo, what kind of camera/shutter speed (frames per second or whatever the video equivalent is) is ideal for sports videography? Does that come with need for a faster memory card? What kind?

Also, for the video DIYers, what kind of editing software did you use, and how easily is this all uploaded to YouTube and/or BeRecruited types of sites?

Thanks for this thread!

If you have a recently purchased digital camera you may already have all the video capability you need. I have a cheapo cannon digital camera that takes adequate Standard definintion video and I have a new nikon dslr that can shoot hd video. The autofocus isn't the greatest on the cheapo cannon digital camera, however most of the video you shoot will be with your son relativly stationary and the video files are easily transfered to your computer.

I shoot lots of video of our team and what I have found is that you should try to find something with at least 60 fps if you are going to be using it for slow motion playback. You also want something with manual and automatic controls for shutter speed, focus range, etc. I bought a Cannon DSLR with HD video capabilities. I have found that I don't shoot anything in low definition. The HD coupled with the manual controls allows me to get exactly what I want, be it slow motion playback to analyze a swing, or zooming out to watch the whole game. Nothing sweeter than getting home, hooking it up to the big flat screen HD TV and watching highly detailed footage!

I have found that the typical 30 fps is not adequate for true slow motion analysis. 60 fps is better and anything higher than that is wonderful, but also gets expensive. Beware of automatic controls only because it may turn out blurry, out of focus, etc.

Also, low defintion on the new big flat screens looks horrible!

Many comapnaies make quality cameras. Get one specific for what you will be using it for. If you are just going to use it for baseball, get a DSLR with HD movie shooting feature. You can buy a myriad of lenses for not too much, and you can shoot beautiful stills also. If you are going to be using it for family use, get a regular video camera as they are a little easier to handle and use for that reason.

Here is what I did.

Video camera with SD card only - no hard drive (its much cheaper).

Buy a big SD card with high speed - watch for "class 10", etc. (You can use these cards even after the camera wears out) Have an extra card handy.

Transfer videos to PC for viewing, editing, etc.

Install an extra 2TB+ hard drive inside your PC (takes 15 minutes to install, costs $79 or so). Every week/month copy/zip all your videos and pictures to the new drive as a backup. (The plugin, external hard drives are way too slow for this)

Or, buy Acronis backup software ($39 or so) to automatically backup to the new drive every x days. (Don't buy anything but Acronis)

So, put the hard drive on your PC, not on your camera.

I have 30, 60, 300 and 600 fps on my camera.

30 is not enough for detailed analysis. It's good enough for quick in-camera looks at the cage or on the field. Most external clips are 30 or 25 fps.

60 is good.

300 is great only when you want slo-mo. I can also use it to load into Kinovea to measure pitch speed, compare clips, and more.

600 is not useful with my camera.

If you are going to use Kinovea or something else to compare clips between people, you need to have the same fps for each clip. So, it's good to have a camera that can take 30, 60 and 300 to match up with player clips taken by others.

If you have an iphone...You can get an app called Coach's eye for $4.99..I think you will be happy with it.

Here is an example for quick feedback while in cages.

COACH EYE VIDEO:

REAL TIME

SLOW MOTION

The Casio Ex FH-25 Shhots 30fps which is standard. It also shoots 120,240,420,1000fps. it also shoots 30-120fps and 30-240fps and none of the high speed is in HD. For Baseball and softball its perfect and whem I get home from games I transfer everthing to a external hard drive.

Wanted to bring this back to the front, it is july 2015, looking to get video camera that is good for slo-motion playback for swings and pitches etc.... are there any suggestions, preferred (cheaper is better) but under $800.  

 

Heck or since apps and such are popular any feedback on swing analyses software from shooting from a half decent camera would also be greatful.  

 

Galaxy 6 and iPhone6 both record 240 fps at 720p. Do you have access to either?

 

I have had pretty good luck with the Iphone 5 and ubersense.  Only drawback is you want to be relatively close.  Can't really do incognito. 

Zeus; What is your objective? Filming for the local TV station?

How old is your son? Does he understand the video?

When you are filming you lose the full pitcher.

 

Did the RF move three feet to his right.

Has the catcher changed signs with a runner on 2B.

How many ways to score from 3b with less than 2 outs.

If there is a LH 1b and an overthrow at 1b by the pitcher, does the 3b coach send the runner?

 

Bob

im a coach looking to film pitchers and hitters either during practice BP and Bullpen or/and during live games, currently we use sony cx-240 it does okay looking to see if i can get better frames while playback in slo-motion.  We use it for feedback, we used ubersense and what ever phone did the recording this year and it was okay at best, some images your right unless you are within a certain ft radius its blurry. thanks for any feedback.   

OK, so you need more optics than the iPhone6 can give you? Take a look at the Panasonic HC-V750 and HC-V770 camcorders. Both can record full HD at 120 frames per second (I think your Sony has a setting for full HD at 60 fps). Can also record at 240 fps at a lower resolution. They both have a 20x optical zoom. Prices are $500-600.

 

They both have a 20x optical zoom.

20x is a good minimum. You should be able to zoom in on hitters and pitchers on HS or college field with this. Be sure and get 20x 'optical'. 20x 'digital' zoom will not be as good.