bjw answers:

Canon VIXIA HF S200 Flash Memory Camcorder

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00322OOXM?ie=UTF8&tag=0610-20

(+)Records crisp high definition video directly to two removable SD memory cards
(+)Genuine Canon 10x HD Video Lens
(+)Canon 1/2.6″ 8.59-Megapixel Full HD CMOS Image Sensor
(+)Canon DIGIC DV III Image Processor
(+)Dynamic SuperRange OIS corrects a full range of motion

Review: I’m generally more of a still photographer at heart, but I finally decided to purchase an HD video camera, and after considerable research, I chose the Canon HF-S200. It seemed to have the right mix of features, size, price and quality – and so far, it’s measured up.

From an ergonomics point of view, I found the camera about right for my hands. The controls seem logically laid out, and it fits naturally in my hand in a way that lets me hold it steady without feeling awkward. Still, even though the camera is barely a pound in weight, to get the best HD quality, you’ll want to consider a monopod, tripod or some other support. I use a Kirk shoulder harness borrowed from one of my still cameras, and it works well. Otherwise, the controls seem to be where I’d like them and it took fairly little effort to get to the point where I could operate most of the features without fixating on the camera itself. Also, because of the memory card architecture, there are no moving parts in the recording system (there are of course moving parts in the lens, focusing mechanism, zoom, etc), making it quick, responsive and – best of all – totally silent in operation.
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The camera also has all the right connections, including HDMI input/output, LANC remote controls, and connectors for outboard audio or microphones. The camera also has a shoe mount for things like video lights, and it can connect to some of Canon’s cool accessories like their DVD burner (which I don’t own, so I can’t comment on).

The camera includes a 10x zoom Canon lens, plus an additional digital zoom feature. I found the lens to be very good for a camcorder, producing bright, sharp and detailed videos with good color and contrast. Still, if you look at the output frame by frame on a computer, you can tell the lens – while impressive – is no match for a top quality DSLR lens. Plus, you’re getting only an effective 6-8MP – pretty low by today’s DSLR standards. I’m not so sure this is an issue, but I guess I don’t shoot serious video with my DSLR, and I wouldn’t shoot serious stills on my video camera. In 35mm terms, the range is about 43-435mm…good on the long end, but not quite as wide as I might like overall. Still, it’s a fast lens and focuses close (about a foot, depending on zoom setting). A final nice feature is that the lens takes standard photo filters (58mm), and I find it handy for instance to screw on a polarizer sometimes.

I find most of the other features Canon includes to work well and to be thoughtfully designed. The 3.5″ LCD panel is sharp and clear, although not always readable in bright sunlight. Auto-exposure and focus seem very fast and accurate, and even when there’s a lot of fast motion, I usually find all the critical parts of the scene to be in sharp focus and properly exposed, aided by Canon’s face and scene detection capabilities. When you want to, you can override exposure and focus to get a specific effect.

From an overall image quality perspective, the Canon offers the best image quality I’ve seen from a consumer product, period. HD images in 1080p are simply stunning, as good as anything you’ll find anywhere. The image stabilization helps ensure you don’t get “bumpy” scenes, and even the audio channels (which are capable of 5.1 recording with an add-on surround microphone) are quite good for such a small device. Overall, I was blown away by the video quality – it was much better than what I thought I could get at this price point.

Great camcorder – highly recommended and worth the price.

bjw answers:

Rugratzz is exactly right. However volleyball and football have very different requirements of a camera. Volleyball takes place in a confined area that is right in front of you. Football involves plays that can run a 100 yards down the field. This affects lens selection and camera support decisions. It also affects possible shot selections, because with volleyball the action always follows the ball. With football, there is a lot of action that occurs at a distance away and you need to anticipate what the play will be. Its very hard to effectively cover football with one camera/location.

bjw answers:

What is your budget?

Good quality slow motion video is best when the camcorder can capture at higher than standard video capture frame rates.

In North America, NTSC standard frame rate is 30 frames per second (well, 29.97 fps, but we don’t need to go there). Sony has a feature in their higher-end consumer Handycams, “SmoothSlowRecord” that allows the camcorder to capture a 3-4 second burst of 120-240 frames per second that results in playback of 12 seconds. The Casio Exilim series also has high frame rate video capture that plays back in slow motion at standard frame rate speed.

Your other option is to get whatever camcorder you want, record at 30 fps, then use a video editor (or the camcorder’s play-back capability) to playback in either slow-motion (anything less than about 15 fps starts to be jumpy) or frame by frame.

Another method is to get a good high speed camera connected directly to a computer for video storage. Photron and Vision Research make good cameras for this.

If you are expecting pro-grade, television quality, slow-motion, then you need to use what the pros use… The entry level starts at about $70,000 for the camera, $100,000 for the lens and about $100,000 for the back-room studio video switcher, cables and recording/playback media and equipment.

But it all starts with understanding your budget.

bjw answers:

There are two major players here: gopro and flip ultrahd, but for real world outdoor activity where endurance and quality is a must, i would recommend you to use gopro hd helmet hero camera which is reliable and full hd. My friends use it and they also make me use it. We are a happy and proud users of this product. Anyway it’s just my recommendation, you may have your own considerations.

bjw answers:

Any camcorder that can speed the shutter speed (faster is better) and change the exposure/iris to keep the captured image lighting useful will be about as good as it gets.

If you are looking for broadcast quality out of a consumer grade camcorder, you will be disappointed. There are many reasons why professional video cameras cost a lot… The big lens and big imaging chips are the first place to look at why they cost so much more… But there are other reasons, too…

I guess I would be looking at the Canon HV20, HV30, Sony HDR-HC7 and HC9… Shooting in standard def (not HDV) with a fast shutter and open up the iris…