Video camera recommendation - anyone?

[metallion]

I have a cam that this 5 years old. Has served me well, but it is not what I want for recording swings. It has a "Sports" mode that does a pretty good job, but again not what I want. Guess it runs at 1/1500 s shutter speed. I am just tired of fuzzy images when stepping the swing. I can see the shaft clearly, but I have a hard time seeing the clubhead orientation and the exact positions of the hands.

Now turning to LBG for guidance. Which cam is the optimum one for swing recording?

Requirements:

• Small in size
• Runs at least 1 hour on battery
• At least 1/4000s shutter speed
• Possible to produce a fullswing video that[list:4ff237f34d]
• Is as small as possible in terms of disk space needed
• Makes it possible to see the clubhead orientation at impact

[*] Compatible with V1 Home in all senses[/list:u:4ff237f34d]

[krpainter]

Metallion, I bought a camcorder earlier this year and did a lot of research before buying it. I wanted something that fit the same specs you listed. I came up with the Panasonic PV-GS15. It has a max shutter speed up to 8000 , and it is easy and quick to set. It is small and very lightweight and takes great quality video (24X optical zoom). You can also take still pictures that are of good quality using a secure digital card. The price is also very very good compared to other similair brands (didn't want to spend over $500).

I use V1 at home and the camcorder works great for this. I have used it several times for filming my swing and using shutter speed at 3000 seems to work best for capturing positions (impact, at the top, etc.).

Here are some reviews about it:

http://reviews.cnet.com/Panasonic_PV...-30671353.html
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content...der-review.htm

Hope this helps,

Keith

[metallion]

Thanks. Sounds good.

Have you had any success in creating non-interlaced video, i.e. true frame-by-frame as opposed to each frame being a mix of two frames?

If you have a sequence handy I'd be very grateful if you'd be able to email it to me for review.

[krpainter]

I haven't tried that yet...sure it could be done just haven't done it. I usually just take shots and then splice them down with Microsoft's Movie Maker and then use V1Home to view them frame by frame.

Keith

[metallion]

Ok. FYI I want to make sure I can produde something of this quality...

http://homepage.mac.com/brianmanzell...ver05front.mov

Might be that the above clip uses QuickTime that sort of de-interlaces the movie. Either that or the cam used was set to non-interlaced scan. I have seen so many Quicktime movies that are non-interlaces but not a single WMV or MPEG movie that is.

I have a feeling that "non-interlaced scan" is called "progressive scan" by the vendors and that it is virtually impossible (due to standardization) to get anything more than 25 frames per second out of a progressive scan camera.

Sony uses the name "Cinematic Effect" when Panasonic uses "Progressive scan". It is similar, but in the Sony case they record at 30 fps and dump each 6th frame. Does not sound that great for golf swings. Article here

Requrements narroews down:
- Progressive scan
- 1/4000s shutter

Candidates:
- Sony DCR-IP1
- JVC GR-DVP9

Still investigating...

[jim_0068]

Ask Manzella, he knows A TON about cameras with what features you need/don't and different price ranges.

[mb6606]

I own the Panasonic PV-Gs19. This is a sweet little camera for $300.
Manual shutter speed settings to 1/6000. 24x zoom. Lots of settings.
I bought a SIIG PCMIA firewire 1394 card with Ulead video editing software for $50 (for my laptop). The combo works great.
I also use the V1 home addition (free download).

I believe the problem is with Quicktime. I open the AVI recordings in Ulead , V1 or Windows Media Player and they are perfect. Not so in Quicktime (blurry at 600x800 not sure why).

[brianmanzella]

New Sony pc-1000...

no contest.

[metallion]

I own the Panasonic PV-Gs19. This is a sweet little camera for $300...

Thanks. Unfortunately not available here - or so it seems.

New Sony pc-1000...

no contest.

The shutter speed of the Sony DCR-PC1000 only goes to 1/500. Sony DCR-PC1000 specification

Other "pc-1000" model? Link?

[brianmanzella]

so sorry.....the hc is the new camera.

i meant the pc1000, still available lots of places.

it the the one that i recomended to Lynn and he loves it.