Best camera for extreme sports filming? Like DH, Kitesurfing, SN in the Vimeo Cameras Forum

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Peter Strausz 3 months ago

Hi all,

I would like to start filming extreme sports videos. You know all the sports like snowboarding, DH racing on a mountainbike, Freeriding, kitesurfing etc.... which means a lot of really fast movements...
For sure all videos will be edited then.

And yeah, the camera will be used as "film it all" camera as well - like parties, holidays...

And now the question:
Which camera should I get for this kind of filming????
Price range: $800-$1100 or €600-€900
Type: MiniDV

Won´t tell you my candidates :-)
So just tell me your opinion which camera would you choose...

thanx a lot for your help
Eugenia Loli-Queru 3 months ago

There's a Sanyo MPEG4 very small camera that's water proof. I saw it today at Frys. It sells for about $300 these days I think. I'd go for something like that instead of miniDV for your specific needs.
Peter Strausz 3 months ago

Eugenia - thanx for your reply, but obviously you haven´t understood what i mean under filming of extreme sports. It means normal filming with a camera, on a tripod. Like a documentary filming

and really dont think suhc a cheap camera would do his job in the right way

but thanx anyway
Eugenia Loli-Queru 3 months ago

Then the well-proven HV20 is your best bet. Good price, amazing quality for that price.
Frankie Christ 3 months ago

DVX100 or the HVX200 for $$ more.
Solse Else 3 months ago

I spent the last 5 years doing exactley what you want to do. I have filmed skiing/snowboarding, hikeing, scuba, kiteboarding, surfing, sailing, mountineering, ect.. you get the idea. You really CAN'T get by with that budget. Anything in that range is crap quality and you won't be able to get the extra hardware you will need for the various sports (Underwater housing, rain skirt, shotgun mic, external mics, FILTERS) Frankie is right, NO LESS than DVX100. You can proabley get a used one pretty cheap now around $2000 if you shop around
Will 3 months ago

I use the Sony HDR HC3 and its complimentary waterproof case. Many other wakeboarders use it too.
Richard Gooderick 2 months ago

The Sony A1E might do the job. It produces good pictures if you are shooting in good light.
It's got xlr sockets too.
And you can use a Ewa bag or pick up a secondhand sports housing to keep the water out.
There's an extract from a sailing film (Sony A1E) I'm making and my frog film (Sony A1E and Canon XH A1) on Vimeo if you are interested.
ricci ocampos 2 months ago

try canon xh a1
sample video shot with letus35 extreme
vimeo.com/757778
Siberian Shadow 1 month ago

I'm a professional extreme sport filmmaker and I can tell you I spent tones of time and money looking for that perfect camera. Most of the ones I looked at were in the range of 1500 - 2000. In the end I went with a Canon HV20. Unfortunately for you there discontinued now so you'll have to Ebay it. Remember throwing money at a piece of gear doesn't always solve your problem the HV20 does every thing you need in a extreme sports film. Find yourself a good Camera tech (one who doesn't make commission) and get them to show you the capabilities of some lower en cameras, $500-$1000. Good luck
HG10 Mania 1 month ago

sibirian.. i wanna buy hg10 cos' i hate tapes in my room..hg10 vs hv20 ..what would you say as a pro filmmaker..
i will buy within 2 weeks a camera .. i want to buy an HDD camera. what would you suggest?
Brian Berneker 14 days ago

Go for the HV20/30. The HG10 uses AVCHD which uses a lower bitrate and will give you lots of grief with editing and generational loss. Fast motion gets seriously stepped on too. Non-tape solutions are desireable, and I was tempted, but in the end for me quality footage is more important, and you can always just archive the footage files to DVD. I have two HV30s now :)
Lukasz Siewior 15 days ago

I hate two things about HDD cameras:
1) it's hard drive driven, which means you have to watch out not to drop it, or you'll kill hdd.
2) you are limited with amount of space for footage - once you fill up the hdd then you have to copy it onto computer. The last thing you want is running out of the space in the middle of the shoot.

I shoot my vids with Sony VX2100. Regular semi-pro SD camera but the quality of the image is outstanding. Check out my video about night racing: vimeo.com/845942
Brian Berneker 14 days ago

I own two HV30s and I love them, but there are other good ones out there too... get something that has good light sensitivity, because they are able to handle faster shutter speeds with good exposure. Another thing to avoid is AVCHD - because of the compression, fast motion is a no-no, and some of those cameras actually flash a warning telling you you're moving TOO FAST!
HG10 Mania 12 days ago

Thank You Brain
Zig Zigmont 12 days ago

I was just looking at tn Edge Cameras H1 and H2, they're not mini-DV but 1280x720 resolution and made for outdoor sports use, I have nothing to do with the company but I'm thinking of getting one for use on a motorcycle.
Danny Arielli 11 days ago

i'm also using the HV20. good quality, but it's certainly necessary to find the best settings..
and sony cam's for example, are not recommended because most of sony consumer cams are using touch screens to ajust the settings - that's not really usefull up in the moutains with low temperatures..
Mark Clair 1 day ago

Try the POV.1 for $995. Has a lipstick camera and records to SD cards. The whole unit is waterproof including the recorder, camera and remote control. You can get one at racerecall.com
Bo Lorentzen 12 hours ago

Mark, on your website it says "water resistant" can one actually dunk it in water while playing safely.?
Mark Clair 10 hours ago

It's waterproof at 1 meter for 15 minutes, so it can easily withstand a dunking in surfing, rafting etc.