Parents Video camera?

[nemo544]

What do you record gymnastics with? I generally use my iPhone but I’ve been looking at a video camera especially as DD gets higher up in levels. I have a Nikon DSLR but find it so bulky and inconvenient especially with the lens I need for the poorly lit gymnasiums (70-200 2.8f works well but it’s huge and heavy). I’m thinking of a 4K camcorder. Any suggestions please? Thank you

 

[Ry32]

I've used a few different cameras over the years, to video gymnastics,. My opinion is you pay a premium for "camcorder" size and convenience, when compared to image quality. Sorry if this gets a little technical, but since you're a DSLR user and have a 70-200mm f2.8, you probably understand the basics of aperture and sensor size, etc.

I started out taking video with a DSLR and similar lens, which worked well, but I quickly decided that I wanted to take both stills and video.

I purchased a Panasonic FZ1000, which has a 1 inch sensor, 25-400mm f2.8-4 lens (8x zoom) and 4k. It can also do 120fps slow motion. It worked very well at 30fps 1080p. I never did too much with 4k, as I didn't like dealing with the huge files and I felt I was sacrificing some low light performance for higher resolution. These can be had for $300-400, which is a lot less than camcorders that use a similar 1 inch sensor. It is still semi large, but much smaller than you DSLR lens combo. I also felt when I started going to 60fps and 120fps, things got fairly grainy/noisey, particularly in poorly lit gyms.

The next camera that I purchased last year is a Canon M50. This is a very compact mirrorless camera, that has a DSLR size APS-C sensor. With the EF-m 55-200mm lens, it is still very compact. Even though the apeture is 4.5-6.3, the larger sensor size makes up for the smaller apeture. I am able to do pretty clean 60fps video at 1080p, which gives smoother motion for action. It also allows for smother slow-motion. Though it will do 4k, I value the higher frames per second over resolution. This combo is going to be a in the $800 range new.

Again sorry if this is technical. I have unlisted YouTube videos of my daughter's meets. If you message me I can send links to samples from both cameras.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

We use our 13 yr old Sony camcorder

 

[Sminty]

Thanks for the great info, @Ry32. I'm not the OP but am interested in this topic. Can you comment on how your M50 compares to a DSLR with a 70-200 mm f2.8 lens for stills?

 

[Ry32]

@Sminty The M50 has the same sensor as the Canon 80D, which is a mid-range/prosumer DSLR. With the M50 you are essentially getting a DSLR in a compact package. You need use an adapter for the traditional Canon EF mount lenses, but there is no image quality or focus performance lost when doing this.

Though I haven't used the M50 for stills at meets, at one time I was using the Canon 70D (DSLR that was the predecessor to the 80D), with at 70-200mm lens and I was able to get serviceable images. The image quality on the M50 should be on par or better than my older 70D. If you are used to using a DSLR, there are some things that you need to adapt to, like an electronic view finder, etc. What is key is getting to know the camera and educating yourself on the settings would need to use to shoot the meets. Putting it in auto mode (P) and hoping for the best doesn't really work.

I really really like the M50 as an all around camera, for video and stills and would have no problem recommending it. In a lot of ways it is more technologically advanced, than traditional DSLRs

That being said, I am now shooting stills with a Canon 5D Mark III, which is a more pro level camera. Though it's not really a camera geared towards sports, the M50 can't really stack up to it when it comes to still image quality. But it's a completely different beast.