I'm in between builds and waiting for parts to arrive, so i have a little time on my hands. I was researching video cameras online for shooting video's of my boats in action. Does anyone own a certain brand video camera or one they would reccomend. Looking at the hard drive and dvd format video cameras. Just wasn't sure if someone would reccomend dvd or hard drive format and what wasmore reliable and easy to transfer.

Thanks

while it does not answer your question as to what video to buy I will offer something for your consideration. What do you intend to do with the video footage. If you are going to be burning DVD's then certainly the quality will be of concern. If you aim to upload to Youtube, Google Video, RCU Video etc then you will find that clips of even the highest quality are all knocked down to some very basic resolution and framerates etc. Also I dont know of any free hosting sites that will allow uploads of greater than 100mb in a single clip.

I personally just use the video function of my Digital camera that records higher quality than I can have hosted online presently. I also have a few onboard cameras from Oregon Scientific that give some interesting perspectives (though not the best quality - again better quality than Online sites will allow though).

I purchased a digital video camera a few years back and have done nothing with it for the fact that it is just another thing to charge and pack when going to the pond. I was never overly impressed with its performance so there was no sacrifice for me. I have some impressive new units out now days but most people I know dont do anything with the footage anyway since theres no where online to host it (and downloading 100+mb clips it an undertaking sometimes).

[link=http://imageevent.com/justaddwata/justaddwatajetboatvideo?p=3&n=1&m=14&c=2&l=0&w=4&s =0&z=2]Clip shot with still camera[/link] and hosted on a pay site. The image quality is better than on the free sites. My still camera will allow unlimited clip length but I tend to keep clips short to make hosting options easier - this clip is 19mb 640x480

Clip shot with [link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7ufCLieCps]onboard camera hosted on Youtube [/link](original clip is 3 times better quality)

Short clip hosted on Google [link=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=846241592376293186&q=justaddwata&t otal=59&start=10&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=3]video is displayed in pretty low quality too[/link]

(if you know of another hosting site that will allow better quality I am all ears )

Thanks JustAddWater, that was very helpful! So, you just use a digital camera for your videos? Curious, what camera do you have?

I thought about what you mentioned and I completly forgot about the resolution changing when downloading a video. I do need a new digital camera anyways and the only thing I would be filming is boats really. I do want to get a wireless setup though. So, I guess i'll research cameras instead then.

Side note,

I checked out your profile and your boats are NICE!!! A work of art!!! Nice vids too!

I hope to be there someday building boats of that quality. If you don't mind me asking, what did the 96 fountain roughly set you back?


Thanks for the help!

I have been a bit of a Fuji camera fan over the years. Having got more than 30 000 pictures from my first compact fuji camera and 40 000 from my Fuji S7000 I decided to try the Fuji S9000. Has been a great camera. I have around 15000 pics through it so far. Love the 10.7 optical zoom (28-300mm Equ.). The lense is fixed (noninterchangable as no digital SLR cameras support video) but good for my skill level. Zoom ring rather than in and out buttons is another benifit for quick adjustments of what your shooting or videoing. I believe they have changed the numbers for the S9000 to S9100 and S9200 for US and European markets). I picked my camera up about a year ago for around $400 new (bargain then and still good now). Also added an 8gb card though 4gb is plenty (just buy a fast memory card as the generic cards can really hamper the performance of storing multiple pics - causing you to miss shots). I also have a hard time buying any camera that wont use AA batteries since I buy them in bulk for my radios.
Theres some info (actually a lot of info) on the S9000 here - http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/fu..._s9000-review/
Trick I find with shooting pics is to take a bunch and experiment at times with different settings. Get familiar with the camera ahead of time so when you are taking important pics you are more likely to be better at it. As a rule I dont use the LCD when shooting pics (which probably doubles the amount of shots you get with the camera).

I have toyed with the idea of going to a full digital SLR but I think I it will take some advances in my skill and their technology before I make that jump. As a rule I never talk to salesmen at electronics stores since most have zero product experience with most of their offerings and just go on what the display says - plus you can always get a better deal online


I shyed away from the wireless onboard video as I had seen so many clips with interference issues and low quality images that it did not seem worth the trouble. I know they have advanced considerably in recent years but am pretty happy with the performance of the Oregon units. I use 1gb SD cards in them which gives more than an hour of footage. They are kinda waterproof - lets say splashproof though I think the newest model is a bit more forgiving (have not tried one yet).


The 96" Fountain was built by my buddy Phil (who just finished the Miss Geico cat) for around $10k. I purchased it a few months back without the CMB35 motors he was running as I wanted to use inline zenoahs. It is a big beautiful boat but problem with any boat 6ft and over is that it is a challenge to transport, launch, store, and work on. This boat being 105 inches to the props and a RTR weight of around 60 pounds is even more difficult.

Thanks JustaddWater!

I think i'll try something like that for my next camera rather than the cannon digital elph compact I have now. The prices look good to on the fuji!

What kind of speeds does the fountain reach? Is it hard to to launch a boat of that size and get it up to speed?

Whatever speed any of those boats reach they are a work of art! Looks like fun and love to build one!


Thanks for the help!