DVX for shooting sports

C

CageWarrior

Member
Hi,I have been lurking on the forum for a bit and reading up a lot on the dvx100(and a few other cams), but have a few Q's.

Our local sports teams are doing really well and they now get TV time on a local station that just started up.Everything is very professional for just being local high school games,except the visual(the audio is pretty decent).I know that the DVX is really good for movies/docs,ect, But would this be a good cam to use for sporting events or should I look into another camera? I don't need the cinema look and I am sure that's what the DVX is mostly made for.

I have the opportunity to shoot the live games and I am very excited about this(it's just volunteer work,But I enjoy supporting our local teams and hometown).

The problem with the video right now is that it looks like it was shot with mom and dads old video cam.The colors are really dull and dispite good indoor lighting the video still looks really dark and there is some distortion as well.I am not sure what camera's they are using yet(I plan to find out),But it looks like a 500$ max cam being used(or just a really poor cameraman heh).

So anyway, Would it be wise to pick up a DVX or should I look at something else for this type of shooting?

Thanks in advance,
Michael

P.S. Please forgive me if this is the wrong forum to post this in,I wasn't sure and just took a guess.
 
Re: Hi everyone

Re: Hi everyone

The Sacramento Kings bought 2 DVXs and swapped them out for 2 XL2s. The XL2 has a longer lens that is more useful for sports.

I myself like the DVX for the more natural looking colors, but then again, I'm not shooting sports.

-j
 
Re: Hi everyone

Re: Hi everyone

Hi back at you. I can't really help with your question, but since i see this is your first post, here is a tip about using forums.

Not everyone reads every thread, especially if they are busy or have been away for a while. The busier the person, the better they usually are at their day job (thus having better answers too). So a topic title like "Hi everyone" will get the people who are bored, or maybe the moderators. All of us assume it is a new person just saying "Hi everyone". ;D If we feel like a chat, we will take the time to read the thread. But pretty quick, the thread will fall off and die. If you actually put something indicative of your subject (Like "using DVX for sports" "DVX for basketball", or even "using DVX for indoor volleyball at night" ) will get you better responses. Anyone who has ever shot a basketball game might jump in with their two cents. You might also get tips about indoor sports coverage in gerneral, not specific to the DVX. It will also help future readers, who might try doing a search on the word "basketball" or "sports" before posting the identical question next month.

Some people think I am anal about this, but I have been a forum user in some form for 8-10 years. It makes no difference to me personally, but YOU will find forums more useful if you at least consider this. Welcome and good luck to you shooting your high school sports team, whether it is basketball, volleyball, wrestling, trap shooting, or whatever.
 
Re: Hi everyone

Re: Hi everyone

yeah actually that makes more sense heh...Wasn't really thinking(was pretty tired when I posted that).

BTW It would be used for Basketball(indoors) and football(outdoors).
 
Re: DVX for shooting sports

Well for football I do agree with j that the extra zoom factor of the Canon lenses might be very useful. But they are both pretty defined shooting situations. If you can borrow or rent a camera for a day or two, you will probably get your answer quickly. I suspect the mechanical aspects of each camera (zoom factors, wide angles, weight, balance, control locations, how big your hands are, brightness of LCD or usefulness of eyepiece) will all be bigger factors than the actual image quality. Shooting football outside (in cold weather?) (at night?) is a lot different than shooting inside a brightly lit (but maybe contrasty or too bright?) basketball court. You may have to wear gloves and a hat to shoot outside...
 
Re: DVX for shooting sports

[quote author=CageWarrior link=board=Events;num=1109389775;start=0#0 date=02/25/05 at 19:49:35]But would this be a good cam to use for sporting events or should I look into another camera? I don't need the cinema look and I am sure that's what the DVX is mostly made for.[/quote]
The cinema/film look is one of the strong selling points. If you have no interest in that then I would start looking at others.

You also mention TV time. If that is your final outcome then shooting 24 (strong point of this camera) isn't what you want. I know others here will correct me if I'm wrong, but, I think TV stations want 60i or at least 30 so it can be converted to 60i.

Oh, since filming sports many times requires telephoto lenses, you are limited with the DVX. There are a couple of addon lenses (e.g. Century's 1.6x) which help. But, another camera such as Canon's XL1 etc. will have more options.

The problem with the video right now is that it looks like it was shot with mom and dads old video cam.The colors are really dull and dispite good indoor lighting the video still looks really dark and there is some distortion as well.
Click to expand...
There can be several factors influencing the look. Even though the lighting may be bright, it might not be the best for a nice look when filmed. Also, if the camera is not white balanced for the lighting then the image can look like crap.
And, yes, the operator has a huge impact on the outcome.

Besides all that, I love my DVX and do shoot sports. Mostly outdoors. I do run into some of the limitations but the final results, at 24fps, look great.
 
Re: DVX for shooting sports

I used it to film wrestling matches. Sometimes they were in dimly lit gyms, or even lit with overhead spotlights. I stayed with a 1/48 shutter whenever possible, and came out with some good footage.
 
Re: DVX for shooting sports

I really like the DVX for the natural colors it captures.

For those of you who have shot sports games if you have any screenshots or video clips i'd love to see them to see how you worked with the DVX for this type of shooting.

I will also be shooting my first short film as well later in the year and I can't wait for that. :D Probably not as exciting to you that have already shot a ton of them though ;)
 
Re: DVX for shooting sports

we are just testing this. the DVX is a solid cam in any situation and we shoot skiaction with the DVX. if you want to use 24p bare in mind though that the slomo is not as nice as with 60i.
 
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