Q. I need to recommend a new camera for my coach to use. He likes to dub the video from the camera to a DVD. I'm pretty sure he does this by hooking up the camera to the TV or DVD recorder and then playing back the video. Our current camera uses mini discs. Can a camera that uses a Hard Drive or Flash Cards do the same thing? And if so, what kind of ports does it need?
A. Hi Ronald:
The short answer to your Question is "yes": HDD and Flash Card video files can be copied to DVD for review & archiving.
The downside is that most consumer HDD and SD Card storage camcorders use high-compression of the video information (to save space), so individual frame detail is lost in the process. And for fast pans (following a football) and quick-action footage, compressed-video can have annoying "motion artifacts" where the frame-to-frame detail is "interpolated" (mathematically guessed-at).
These 2 types of camcorders typically use USB ports to connect to a computer for transfer & editing. MiniDV tape-based camcorders use lower-compression (more frame & pixel detail is stored), but transfers have to be in "real-time", so a 2-hour game takes 2-hours to transfer. MiniDV camcorders require a FireWire port on the computer or DVD recorder. Digital video files (from HDD and cards) can be just "dragged & dropped" to copy. The files are huge, so it still takes some time (especially over USB), but it's quicker than tape transfer.
I shoot a lot of "sports combine" review videos (like on Yahoo!Sports' Rivals.com), as well as live game action; and coaches & scouts almost exclusively want MiniDV-based footage because of the motion capture quality.
There are pro-level and "prosumer" (semi-pro) cameras & camcorders that use high-speed CF-cards and/or FireWire based external hard drives (FireWire is faster than USB) as well as tape storage. These typically run (new) in the $1500-$3000+ price range, but are ruggedly built (Sony HVR-Z1 thru Z7 series are a good example).
Having the option of "solid state" memory or HDD external storage gives you the speed of quick file transfers & editing for review. The TV pros call this "DTE" for Direct-To-Edit workflow.
If your coach has a lower budget (his mini-DVD camcorder was originally around $1000 or less, like the $1100 Sony HCR-DVD300), he'll need to make a compromise between frame-detail (especially when reviewing in slo-mo or still-frame) and price. Features to shop for include variable shutter-speed, Slo-Mo "burst" record mode (for things like gymnastics or golf-swings), and pre-record mode (actually captures the video just-before you hit Record, so you get all the action).
Feel free to update your Question with exactly what sport or sports your coach deals with, which can make a difference in feature choices, and what his price range is (which makes a big difference in model selection).
hope this helps,
--Dennis C.
The short answer to your Question is "yes": HDD and Flash Card video files can be copied to DVD for review & archiving.
The downside is that most consumer HDD and SD Card storage camcorders use high-compression of the video information (to save space), so individual frame detail is lost in the process. And for fast pans (following a football) and quick-action footage, compressed-video can have annoying "motion artifacts" where the frame-to-frame detail is "interpolated" (mathematically guessed-at).
These 2 types of camcorders typically use USB ports to connect to a computer for transfer & editing. MiniDV tape-based camcorders use lower-compression (more frame & pixel detail is stored), but transfers have to be in "real-time", so a 2-hour game takes 2-hours to transfer. MiniDV camcorders require a FireWire port on the computer or DVD recorder. Digital video files (from HDD and cards) can be just "dragged & dropped" to copy. The files are huge, so it still takes some time (especially over USB), but it's quicker than tape transfer.
I shoot a lot of "sports combine" review videos (like on Yahoo!Sports' Rivals.com), as well as live game action; and coaches & scouts almost exclusively want MiniDV-based footage because of the motion capture quality.
There are pro-level and "prosumer" (semi-pro) cameras & camcorders that use high-speed CF-cards and/or FireWire based external hard drives (FireWire is faster than USB) as well as tape storage. These typically run (new) in the $1500-$3000+ price range, but are ruggedly built (Sony HVR-Z1 thru Z7 series are a good example).
Having the option of "solid state" memory or HDD external storage gives you the speed of quick file transfers & editing for review. The TV pros call this "DTE" for Direct-To-Edit workflow.
If your coach has a lower budget (his mini-DVD camcorder was originally around $1000 or less, like the $1100 Sony HCR-DVD300), he'll need to make a compromise between frame-detail (especially when reviewing in slo-mo or still-frame) and price. Features to shop for include variable shutter-speed, Slo-Mo "burst" record mode (for things like gymnastics or golf-swings), and pre-record mode (actually captures the video just-before you hit Record, so you get all the action).
Feel free to update your Question with exactly what sport or sports your coach deals with, which can make a difference in feature choices, and what his price range is (which makes a big difference in model selection).
hope this helps,
--Dennis C.
I am beginning to teach golf, what are some of the better cameras to use to record swings?
Q. I have a handful of clients, but am not yet making too much money, so my budget is kind of low. I was originally looking for a high speed camera (like the one CBS uses) but figured that was too much money. Also what are the things I should look into for the best quality of seeing the swings that are 100 MPH +.
A. Any decent digicam with video will work. I would suggest one that records video in AVI, or some flavor of AVI, instead of Quicktime. It's just easier to work with.
Get 2, one facing the front of the player, and one facing the direction the ball is being hit... catch both at once,
You'll also need something to hold the camera, a tripod of some sort. No more than your average Canon pocket camera weighs, the $25 Walmart tripods will work.
Get 2, one facing the front of the player, and one facing the direction the ball is being hit... catch both at once,
You'll also need something to hold the camera, a tripod of some sort. No more than your average Canon pocket camera weighs, the $25 Walmart tripods will work.
How many megapixels do i need on a digital video camera for a DVD movie without flaws showing through?
Q. Please help me fast! I'm shopping for one!
A. Uhm... I didn't see anything about resolution or megapixels on the Digital Camcorders I looked at, so probably any MiniDV camecorder will be just fine. You'll get what you pay for so stick to name brands and don't go too cheap... last years models of top brands are often a good place to go. You can find articles and reviews on them plus they are on close out so you can save some cash. Of course if you are intent on converting to DVD you might consider one of the models that writes directly to that format, but I don't know as much about them and they don't appear to be as popular. It may not be formatted for your every day DVD player either by default.
Now, if you meant digital camera with movie recording capabilities, well, good luck my friend. As far as I know the highest resolution any such camera records video in is 640 x 480 @ 30 fps. progressive. This is close to achieving modern DVD standards, but HD-DVD, Blue-Ray, and 1080p/i are on the way which will dramatically increase the amount of information necessary to produce such a large image. My suggestion would be not to ignore this requirement of yours but to focus more on features as it's unlikely you'll be making a collection of dozens of DVD movies anyway.
My personal favorite in the camera that doubles as a camcorder is the Canon Digital Elph series. I just broke mine and may replace it with a SD600 or SD630. The SD700IS (I believe that is the right model) is kind of cool as it will auto-crop your images to widescreen 16 x 9, but really it's just a macro that is costing you resolution, so no big deal.
To conclude on this category, video on the camera has nothing to do with the number of megapixels. A 1 MP camera could probably do 640 x 480 @ 30 fps just fine. The resolution really only kicks in on the pictures. The memory and speed required to record larger resolutions in the megapixel range would be extraordinary. Effectively your camera would be taking 30 Megapixel photos per second which is impossible as they have trouble taking them within a second of each other without over-running the buffer.
Anyway, read the reference source which should provide you most of the information you need. Wikipedia is awesome... shop at newegg and local shops.
Before I go, another nice thing about the canons that doesn't appeal to everybody is that they will take 320 resolution clips at 60 fps for capturing sports action. This is excelent for analyzing things like golf swings and the like, plus it's very affordable as such a tool. I personally use it to analyze foosball shots that are practically unseeable by the naked eye.
Good luck!
Now, if you meant digital camera with movie recording capabilities, well, good luck my friend. As far as I know the highest resolution any such camera records video in is 640 x 480 @ 30 fps. progressive. This is close to achieving modern DVD standards, but HD-DVD, Blue-Ray, and 1080p/i are on the way which will dramatically increase the amount of information necessary to produce such a large image. My suggestion would be not to ignore this requirement of yours but to focus more on features as it's unlikely you'll be making a collection of dozens of DVD movies anyway.
My personal favorite in the camera that doubles as a camcorder is the Canon Digital Elph series. I just broke mine and may replace it with a SD600 or SD630. The SD700IS (I believe that is the right model) is kind of cool as it will auto-crop your images to widescreen 16 x 9, but really it's just a macro that is costing you resolution, so no big deal.
To conclude on this category, video on the camera has nothing to do with the number of megapixels. A 1 MP camera could probably do 640 x 480 @ 30 fps just fine. The resolution really only kicks in on the pictures. The memory and speed required to record larger resolutions in the megapixel range would be extraordinary. Effectively your camera would be taking 30 Megapixel photos per second which is impossible as they have trouble taking them within a second of each other without over-running the buffer.
Anyway, read the reference source which should provide you most of the information you need. Wikipedia is awesome... shop at newegg and local shops.
Before I go, another nice thing about the canons that doesn't appeal to everybody is that they will take 320 resolution clips at 60 fps for capturing sports action. This is excelent for analyzing things like golf swings and the like, plus it's very affordable as such a tool. I personally use it to analyze foosball shots that are practically unseeable by the naked eye.
Good luck!
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