Slight update: I’m told that the stadium will almost certainly be able to provide me with their professionally recorded version of the event, since they archive all of their pre-game material. So that’s very good news. I’m still thinking about the camcorder, though, as it might be fun to document the experience from a more personal perspective. So I’m still pondering the suggestions given here.
As for the side conversation, I don’t care if you have it here or in a separate thread. But I personally have no desire to buy a camera (or any product) with the intent of returning it after use.
I wound up buying a Samsung HMX-F90 bundle at the last minute. It lacks the ability to use an external mic, which might end up being a mistake down the road, but the price and the reviews made me think it was a worthwhile decision for now, at least. Time will tell. I realized that I’ve got a couple of other significant events coming up later in the year, so I might be glad I decided to buy a camcorder generally.
Given that you’re throwing out the first pitch, I’d bet they’d let you bring in a small tripod to setup on the field to get your own video. You’re not an average spectator for this game.
I’m hoping you’re right. I should be able to talk to someone in more detail before the game to get specific instructions. The camera I bought came with a tripod that can be expanded to five feet tall, which should work if I’m allowed to use it. I’m also allowed to have a friend on the field with me, so she can just take handheld video if necessary, so long as there’s no general restriction on me bringing a camcorder onto the field.
Here are the reasons one might want a different camcorder:
The extras are, not to put too fine a point on it, crap. The larger tripod is junk and the little flexible one is a menace to your camera.
And the camcorder is limited to 720P, instead of 1080P. There are arguments in favor of 720P over 1080i, but not with camcorders. So when you play this back on a 1080P HD screen, you will not see anywhere near the same quality.
Unless you’re unsure of a refurbished product, I would still recommend the Canon model I mentioned. You could buy it for $111.99 (plus shipping) and buy a decent tripod or a monopod (basically a stick), and a memory card for a lot less money.
I produce commercial work with this particular Canon model. It has a full HD sensor, excellent optics, external microphone input and all the other stuff I mentioned. And if you buy it, I’ll talk you through how to use it on the phone.
gaffa, the other camera arrived this morning. It has already been opened and used. Unfortunately, I wanted to get it in a hurry because I wanted to do some fun pre-game recordings, so I chose this bundle because of its availability through Amazon Prime.
I don’t have an issue with refurbished products, so that wouldn’t have stopped me. This may be a mistake I have to live with, assuming it winds up a mistake for my purposes. I used the taller tripod briefly this afternoon. It is very cheaply made, but it was usable. I haven’t opened the little tripod yet.
Yeah, I kind of assumed Prime would have figured into it.
I don’t want to make you feel bad about your purchase. I’ll confess to being a bit of a Canon camcorder snob. I’ve owned 11 of them, and have always loved the fact that their very cheapest camcorder has pro features available, and are solidly built and reliable.
If you can, shoot some stuff outside, and bring it in and hook the camcorder up to your TV via the HDMI cable. The weaknesses of this camcorder will be visible in fine details, especially in lines that are nearly horizontal or vertical.
Those little tripods are OK as long as you understand that it is utterly useless unless you also wrap it with duct tape. Then when you find you can never, ever get the duct tape off of it, you’ll throw it away.
I shot stuff outside yesterday and today while practicing. You are definitely right in that no one is going to mistake this for professional video, but I think it’ll be fine for what I hope to accomplish.
I’m told preliminarily that while I can bring a camera onto the field, I won’t be able to have a tripod (“professional equipment” like tripods, monopods and lenses longer than six inches are prohibited). So it’ll be up to my guest to handle the handheld element.
I have watched the video of that probably 10 times since I was first given this opportunity (and I’d seen it when it was first news). It hasn’t stopped making me laugh yet. While my practice definitely hasn’t been perfect, I feel fairly confident at this point that I’m going to be in the vicinity of home plate.
You can bring someoneonto the field? Cool. Pro tip - the closer the camera is to the subject, the better. All a long zoom really does is put the subject at the end of a very long teter-totter. The slightest movement of the operator’s hand is magnified.
