Looking to buy a an easy to use video camera to record games for analysis. Anyone got any idea what basic functions i would need. have seen footage that was practically unwatchable but it may have been down to the camera man. Any advice appreciated.
You would want a camera with freeze frame on it,if you want to watch direct from the camera.
you also would want to use a tripod to keep the camers steady.
Speaking from experience don't be scrimping on the tripod. When we invested we got a cheap tripod (£60) and it really takes away from the quality of the video. If you call into curry's at sprucefield they have a range of tripods on display. There is one at £119 which looks pretty good. They have the cheaper ones there too and you can see the difference in the smoothness when panning around and up/down.
Camera wise we are using a panasonic HDC-SD260 (around £450) which is full hd. Its just a standard home camcorder but it was a bad buy as it struggles to keep up with the speed of the game and the footage is a bit shaky and you see some shadowing if fast moving sequences. Also be aware of the Irish weather, is your camera going to be waterproof? On a wet night I wrap our camera in clingfilm and work away but it can't be good for it.
You should get a video position setup so you are videoing from a bit of height. You get a better shot of the game and you won't have people walking in front of you.
Getting someone who has a bit of experience behind the camera is a help too. Too much zooming in/out is bad and steady movements are a must.
One last piece of advice Last Man, don't be the camera man! Every club game I've seen this season and last season I've watched on a 2 inch camera screen which is crap!
Thanks for the info fella, especially about the tripod which I wouldn't have forseen. Was thinking I would get a decent package for around the £400 mark but clearly not. I'll have a scratch around and see what I can get.