Shooting off-road action sports...Which Video Camera?

Here's some testimonial videos I put up on Youtube from my Glamis, CA dune trip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qyc89IN82pE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-aUlOnS7T4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkzfX98VHFc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZULzwt_ZHso

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTJukeFxu5w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPvrXO5Degg

All of this whipped together as one video for the SEMA show that just ended...all rough cuts, very little editing done to make them look more professional. I'm very impressed with the camera, and I've found that my matthews tripod when shooting today is a huge help. I'm shooting out in UT today and the next two days, and using the tripod makes all the difference in the world for quality shots. I played it through component out as 1080i, even though I shot it in 720/60p, and it looked outstanding on the television today. Unbelievable actually. The exposure was spot on, colors at +1 chroma look great. So far, I'm very pleased with the camera.

Chris
 
Great stuff Chris.

Here are some clips from a last minute drive I went on. Did not have time to prepare so just put the HMC40 on a mount (should have used a polarizer and need to get a bigger mount so the hood can be used) . Also did some hand held footage while driving. I am very satisfied with the OIS of the camera. Also the built in mic did fine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=783R39EyWbM
 
Here's a video I just completed:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4utezpM6s8

It was filmed using the HMC40 in PH720/60p with the following setup:

- Panasonic Wide Angle .7x Lens
- No ND Filters
- Rode Videomic with Dead Cat for Sound
- Matthews M25 Tripod
- OIS On
- Slow Motion is 25% of normal speed
- Edited with Adobe Premier CS4 on a Macbook Pro 17"
- Outputted using Mainconcept H.264 Youtube HD preset, but changed the fps to 59.94 from 24 fps.
- +1 Chroma

Any pointers, comments, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Chris
 
I think you could have shown things from different angles. A good one would have been behind the driver's head.

And one on the side near the front tire, showing the movement of the wheel relative to the body of the UTV. Drive the same track, have a normal & enhanced shot side by side.

And show things in real-time as well, a consumer can't relate to things when they look different from their experience. And, I would say use the same driver in all the tests. A small woman may bounce around more than a larger man.

And those long slo mo parts are a bit boring for the wide shots. The bouncing and dancing the UTV does at those speeds looks to gentle no matter what shocks are installed, and so you don't get that sense there's much difference.

Get creative, use shorter shots, move that camera around, I don't really know what a UTV is all about, but these shots make it look like my Grandmother could drive one of these. Shoot low to the ground, get some sand flying.

As a scientific study of energy transfer and it's effect on the dynamic movement of a UTV, the video works. But my blood was not pumping, and I have no idea what you are selling.
 
Good stuff thanks...I had a gopro hd to get on-board, but editing on a mac isn't possible apparently. Royal pain in the butt...

Chris
 
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