Need advise on decent video camera for skiing and sailing

[Krakster]

I want to get back into shooting video, and dont know where to begin in assessing what kind of equip is available. Looking for something "prosumer" level I suppose in a 1.5-3k budget. I studied film in school and then ended up skiing pro in front of the camera way back in the day, so lets say I am spoiled and want to do better then the average home movie.

had a ses last winter on snow with some guys who used to make a lot of ski films back in the day, they were using a Casio Exilim Pro EX-F1 Digital Camera to shoot video..... a DSLR,,, the 300fps footage after was stunning. It appears there are a lot of young "film" makers going to this sort of set up, affordable and it appears you can use your old film SLR 35mm lenses also.... However, snow mountains water and high action have special needs, I am sure there are plenty of young enthusiastic videographers cutting their teeth on some decent equipment, I just dont know what that might be.

all recommendations and edification welcomed here. thanks

[Tippster]

AFAIK that Casio does not have interchangeable lenses.

[MarcusBrody]

I want to get back into shooting video, and dont know where to begin in assessing what kind of equip is available. Looking for something "prosumer" level I suppose in a 1.5-3k budget. I studied film in school and then ended up skiing pro in front of the camera way back in the day, so lets say I am spoiled and want to do better then the average home movie.

had a ses last winter on snow with some guys who used to make a lot of ski films back in the day, they were using a Casio Exilim Pro EX-F1 Digital Camera to shoot video..... a DSLR,,, the 300fps footage after was stunning. It appears there are a lot of young "film" makers going to this sort of set up, affordable and it appears you can use your old film SLR 35mm lenses also.... However, snow mountains water and high action have special needs, I am sure there are plenty of young enthusiastic videographers cutting their teeth on some decent equipment, I just dont know what that might be.

all recommendations and edification welcomed here. thanks

Do you have semi-new autofocusing SLR lenses? If so, which system? It might pay to go with that.

If you want to use your older SLR lenses, then mirrorless systems like NEX and Micro 4/3 are probably the way to go. Right now the best video performers in the segment are in Panasonic's GH series. The GH3 just came out, is weather-sealed, appears to be much improved at tracking moving targets, shoots 60fps at 1080p and is $1300. The GH2 can be had for $500-600 bucks right now, has not too much worse image quality but does AF as well and isn't weather sealed. If you're using old SLR lenses you likely won't be able to autofocus anyway, though, so AF performance doesn't matter as much. Another interesting thing about the GH2 and up cameras is a feature called extended tele conversion. It creates 1080p video by just taking the image of that size from the pixels at the center of the sensor (most of the time cameras downsize the full sensor to the desired resolution). It ends up giving you what appears as a "zoom" without the quality drop of a digital zoom. You do pay a slight price in very low light, but in good light, it's a great way to make a lens more versatile. If I had the money, I'd want the GH3 with the new 12-35 and 35-100 f2.8 zooms, but with both lenses you're over your budget.

Another interesting option is the Panasonic FZ200. It's a super-zoom, so no interchangeable lenses but it has a 25-600mm equivalent f2.8 lens which is supposed to be nice. It shoots 60fps in 1080p and 120fps in 720p. With the stuff you're shooting, it's not necessary to have super shallow depth of field very often and you probably won't need a very high iso, so it's smaller sensor will likely not be a big deal. I'm pretty certain it has a filter thread so you could use a polarizer and/or ND filter on bright days. I haven't used the FZ200, but it seems interesting.

You could get a GoPro Hero3 Black an FZ200 and a few accessories and have a pretty versatile kit for the very bottom of your budget.

[mag1882]

Yeah, the camera you mentioned in the OP only does 300fps at 360p, minimum resolution nowadays is 720 really. Above poster has it right, gh2/3 would be your best bet, given your budget is 3k you might appreciate the 1080p60 option of the gh3, what sort of filming were you planning on doing for skiing? static? following? backcountry? park?

[Supermoon]

Do you need to shoot stills? If not I'd go with a straight video camera instead. DSLRs are good, but they definitely have their drawbacks for pure video shooting.

I've shot some BC skiing footage with a Canon XA-10 that was pretty good. Only about $1800, and super portable (less than 2 lbs and basically the size of a pair of gloves. Shoots onto an internal 64gb flash drive, IIRC and you can add in SD cards to expand another 64gb. Way better than dealing with tape. You have to screw on accessory lenses, and it shoots 60i at 1080 are the drawbacks. Not sure what you can get for another 1200 in the same line, but I would look into it for sure if you want video only.

ETA - it also has full-size XLR ports for audio which isn't always the case on the smaller cameras and dSLRs.

[Krakster]

Do you need to shoot stills? If not I'd go with a straight video camera instead. DSLRs are good, but they definitely have their drawbacks for pure video shooting.

I've shot some BC skiing footage with a Canon XA-10 that was pretty good. Only about $1800, and super portable (less than 2 lbs and basically the size of a pair of gloves. Shoots onto an internal 64gb flash drive, IIRC and you can add in SD cards to expand another 64gb. Way better than dealing with tape. You have to screw on accessory lenses, and it shoots 60i at 1080 are the drawbacks. Not sure what you can get for another 1200 in the same line, but I would look into it for sure if you want video only.

ETA - it also has full-size XLR ports for audio which isn't always the case on the smaller cameras and dSLRs.

Thanks Baggins, I just realized I had replies to my inquiry.
I dont need to shoot stills and video is my priority, I definitely would like it to be SD card or flash drive and not tape. I would really like at least 120fps, which would put the Canon XA-10 out of consideration.

[Krakster]

Thanks for the insights, the Panasonic FZ200 sounds interesting with the 120fps capability. I dont necessarily need to shoot stills, but really want to primarily shoot good video and have decent slo-mo available. I do not have an autofocusing SLR lens, but am beginning to inderstand that is one of the trade offs between a camcorder and a SLR.

[Krakster]

Filming for skiing primarily static, backcountry some, I would certainly like a min fps of 120, in particular for high action. It doesnt have to be a DSLR. Thankyou for your thoughts.

[Max Archer]

Do you need to shoot stills? If not I'd go with a straight video camera instead. DSLRs are good, but they definitely have their drawbacks for pure video shooting.

I've shot some BC skiing footage with a Canon XA-10 that was pretty good. Only about $1800, and super portable (less than 2 lbs and basically the size of a pair of gloves. Shoots onto an internal 64gb flash drive, IIRC and you can add in SD cards to expand another 64gb. Way better than dealing with tape. You have to screw on accessory lenses, and it shoots 60i at 1080 are the drawbacks. Not sure what you can get for another 1200 in the same line, but I would look into it for sure if you want video only.

ETA - it also has full-size XLR ports for audio which isn't always the case on the smaller cameras and dSLRs.

I've been really interested in the XA-10 myself. I've always been of the belief that for 99% of video a real video camera is the best solution, and I love the idea of a camera with manual controls and the ability to take a decent mic that I can throw in with my still gear and not pay much of a penalty.

[csmith]

Not sure if this interests you at all but I am selling my Panasonic ag-hmc40. Here's the eBay link.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/200867616530

[Tippster]

I don't get how you guys think shooting at 60i for fast moving stuff like skiing is a "drawback."

[Supermoon]

I've been really interested in the XA-10 myself. I've always been of the belief that for 99% of video a real video camera is the best solution, and I love the idea of a camera with manual controls and the ability to take a decent mic that I can throw in with my still gear and not pay much of a penalty.

Yeah, it would be great for that. I was really pleasantly surprised with the quality and size of it after moving from the HVX. Low light is excellent on that thing, too. Shot some nighttime park skiing with no extra lights and it looked great.

To the OP: I'm not really sure you NEED 120 fps for shooting skiing. Most of the time I just shoot in 30 and confirm down to 24. 60 is plenty slow generally at 2.5x slower than 24. Don't let that dissuade you if you want it, but I wouldn't sacrifice resolution to shoot that fast.

Tipp: 60i is great, especially compared to no 60 fps. I was just meaning 60p is just a little smoother if you can find it in a similar price range.